Mending Hearts
by Moql'nkkn
Summary: What would you do if you found out all you thought was perfect, is wrong? When Erika finds the Cullens at her school, she discovers something that turns her world upside-down. What really happened to the Cullens, and where's Bella? R&R Please! COMPLETE!
1. Perfect World Broken

**Mending Hearts**

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Author's Note: **Read this or the story won't make sense! **This story started out as the fantasy every Twilight fangirl has had: the Cullens showing up at their school. Then it escalated into it's own story with a main character lack of fangirl screaming in the Cullen's presence shocks me, and friends who think she's slightly insane, and the tale of what would happen if everything went wrong. I would like to mention that "hidden" or "secret" thoughts refer to the thoughts that Edward cannot hear. There will be more explanation on this later. Also this is set in the future, after the BD movie even. The movies have all come and gone, and nobody cares about Twilight anymore, except for Erika. She loves the series, but nobody knows what she's raving about when she talks about sparkley vampires. They haven't read the books. Erika still believes that the Cullens will show up one day though, just like most of us probably have. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but I wish I did...:)

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Chapter 1: Perfect World Broken

It was one of _those_ days. I had a really hard math test, couldn't figure out what on _earth_ reflexive verbs were in French, and this morning I was late for band. I had an excuse for the last one though. I was going to be early, so I decided to go on the computer and download the Twilight soundtrack. I only heard about it yesterday and I really wanted to own it. The thing is, the movie is so old, and the CD isn't even stocked in music stores anymore. So I was up early this morning getting the songs onto my iTunes, and then my iPod. I welcomed lunch. I was one of those people with the extremely fast metabolism. I'm always starving by lunch. I'm also starting to think that I can hear my stomach eating itself when I'm hungry. It's not a pleasant feeling. So when lunch rolls around, I'm usually really fast to get mine.

I always pack a lunch, but I tend to think those microwavable soups very convenient. So today I was headed to the cafeteria. I usually just walk straight to the microwave, us it, and leave, but sometimes I looked around to see what changes had happened since I last looked. Sometimes the cafeteria was filled with a wave of new eighth graders, and sometimes the seniors chase them out. It's usually fun to watch. Today was one of the days I took a full look at the cafeteria.

And nearly fainted in shock.

I forced myself to keep walking at a steady pace, though I may have sped up a bit. My body tingled with the adrenaline that pumped through my body. I was reeling, but I managed to calm down a little bit, enough to not look suspicious, maybe just enough for it to seem like maybe I had seen an old crush. Also, I started singing 'Leave the Rest Behind" by Linkin Park in my head so I wouldn't think about what I had just seen. I would think about it later. It took all my strength to keep singing in my mind and being distracted while I dragged my legs to the microwave. The 2 minutes to heat my soup were an agony of trying not to look back, trying not to run over, trying not to think about it. When the microwave finally beeped, I wasn't as controlled. I almost flew to the spot where I ate with my friends. I hoped I knew enough lyrics to songs so I could keep humming to myself for the rest of the day until I could think safely.

Because sitting in a small, isolated corner of the cafeteria, avoided by the rest of the student body, were the Cullens.

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I don't actually know how I managed to last the entire day without thinking about it. I was taking the hardest trial of my life. Not only did I have to block my thoughts, but I had to stay calm and not make any drastic decisions. This was the first time that my Twilight obsession actually came in useful for something other that taking up my free (and sometimes not so free) time. For years, starting right after I read the books, I started guarding my thoughts. I pretended that Edward was listening to my every thought, and I didn't want him to hear some things. I learned to think in front of it, like having two separate lines of thought, both going at the same time. It was really hard. I could, for example, think about what I was going to eat for dinner consciously, and actually have rational thoughts and come to a decision, while disguising the fact that I was actually wondering how many mountain lions were around town.

I could also be emotionless, worrying that Jasper might notice my shock, or suspicion, or maybe even my excitement. Well, not completely emotionless. That's really hard to do. I can just calm myself down enough that it might seem like I was thinking of something I might have heard earlier, or maybe I had an epiphany. Either way, it wouldn't be enough for them to be suspicious of me.

Learning not to make decisions was harder. I sort of learned how to work on instinct, but I don't know if that worked. I figured that to best Alice, I should just not make any decisions about them. She wouldn't be looking into every single person's decision to do anything, just anything that might involve the Cullens themselves. So I was hoping that not thinking about them would solve that problem. I sure hope so.

Now that they were here, I didn't want them to go before I at least talked to them, and I couldn't do that if they knew that I knew what they were. They would move out of here that night, and I would never see them again. I couldn't let that happen. Here were all my dreams and fantasies, having a chance to possibly meet the elusive Cullens, and I wasn't about to let it get away.

When I got home, I immediately ran up to my room. I dumped my backpack on the floor, and turned on some music. Actually, I turned on the Twilight Soundtrack. I figured it would probably be the best thing to help me think, considering the circumstances. As Bella's Lullaby started playing, I sat on the bed and did a few breathing exercises to help me calm down more. Now was time to assess what I had seen, hopefully safe in my house.

I had seen the Cullens; I knew it was them, it had to be. It was just like in the books. They were, of course, inhumanly beautiful. Past that though, it was really quite obvious. I saw Rosalie, looking like a model off of some fancy magazine I had no name for, and when someone looked like that, they didn't go to a regular small town high school. Then there was Emmett. I couldn't think about him for long, he was really freaky. His muscles were huge! The cool thing though, was that he didn't look like those nasty guys on steroids. He looked like he got them naturally, though I'm guessing that being a vampire sped up the process. Jasper was there too. He seemed really tense; I hope he didn't see through my fake calm. Alice looked like she was about to start jumping up and down, even when she was still, though I guess she's always like that. I hope that she didn't see me. Finally there was Edward. It really was quite obvious who he was. The bronze hair gave it away. I was worried about him though. He looked really depressed, like he was about to jump out a window.

That's when I realized something.

Where was Bella? Where were Renesmee and Jacob? I was sure that the rest of the Cullens wouldn't go anywhere without them. Renesmee is Edward's daughter for goodness sake! Not to mention Bella, his true love. Oh, and Jacob would go anywhere Renesmee was, so he should be there too. I didn't see any of them. What was going on here? Why is the group incomplete? Did Bella want to stay in Forks? Her dad probably wouldn't be around anymore. Nobody she had known would have been, it was so long ago.

I was feeling really uneasy about it. I wanted to know what was going on. I couldn't make any decisions though; Alice would see them for sure. I knew that if I thought about it anymore though, I would make some kind of decision, Alice would see, and they would all move away. I was getting hungry, so I decided to get something to eat and do my homework. There was nothing else I could do about this tonight. I would have to see if they were there tomorrow. After all, for all I know, I could have been hallucinating!

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The next day, I could barely wait until I got to school. My morning classes were dragging on forever! Glancing at the clock every other second probably wasn't helping either. It wasn't as hard to think about other things today. I was more prepared, but I was still very careful. I haven't ever tested it, I could be failing completely for all I knew, and Edward was able to see my every thought about them. They could be getting out of their classes right now, and escaping the crazed fangirl that was I. I began to get more worried, but I tried to stifle it, knowing that Jasper could possibly sense it. Not that it was that important, there were lots of people worrying about all sorts of trifle things in the school, like tests or asking a person out. So being worried wasn't my first priority. I did try to think of something worrying in the front of my mind though, so my worry wouldn't seem so out of place. I decided to worry about the test in Math that I took yesterday. I hope I did well!

"Erika?"

I jumped. I hadn't even noticed Cassie calling my name. I answered distractedly, but still glad for an opportunity to think about something else. "Oh, sorry Cassie! I was really zoned just now. What's up?" I tried to sound casual, but I think my voice might have sounded a bit nervous.

Cassie didn't seem to notice. "Yeah you've seemed a little out of it all day. What's up with you?" She didn't give me time to answer. "Anyway, I was wondering if you knew how to say 'You're Welcome' in French. I can't remember."

"Isn't something like, 'De Rien'?" Beside me, Haileigh jumped into the one sided conversation, seeing as how I wasn't really responding today.

I agreed quickly though. "Yeah it is. What do you need it for?"

"It's for my French postcard. I was saying 'You're welcome for the pens I sent', or something along that line." Cassie answered. I had almost forgotten about the French project. It wasn't a very big one anyway. I was almost finished myself. French wasn't that exciting anymore. I was way ahead of the class, so I knew a lot of stuff already.

Finally the bell for lunch rang, and I almost ran to my locker. I just barley managed to restrain myself. I paused at my locker to get my lunch, and to calm my nerves a little bit. How would I talk to them? I wouldn't. No, I couldn't think that I would, or Alice would see. I thought about microwaveing my soup while walking down the stairs. I was halfway through the cafeteria when I suddenly swerved toward where I saw them sitting yesterday. I didn't make the decision to do anything else. I looked at them, seemingly through boredom, not really thinking about what I was doing. Not in the front of my mind anyway. On my second, hidden line of thought, I was scrutinizing their every move.

Jasper was tense again, and I wondered if it was because of all the humans around. His eyes kept of flickering toward Edward though, and I wondered again why Bella wasn't there. He would have been a lot happier with her there. Why wasn't she? Now that I noticed where Japer kept on looking, I noticed that all the rest of the Cullens were looking towards Edward a lot too. It was like they were keeping an eye on him, to make sure he didn't do anything rash. I could understand that though, he looked really depressed, like he hadn't seen the sun in years, like he had gone blind.

I barely noticed when I stopped a foot away from their table, or how all eyes except his looked at me- staring. If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed their shock, curiosity, and suspicion about me being so close. Why would I, a mere human, dare approach them, when it was so obvious that they were dangerous, and to be avoided? I was past that though. All I could see was his face, glaring at the table like it was what had blinded him. But I knew. I could feel my eyes widening, and my legs were getting shaky. I only knew of one thing that could make Edward so depressed. It all clicked in one moment, and I gasped.

The reason Bella, Renesmee, and Jacob weren't there. Why he looked like he was about to commit suicide. Why his family were glancing at him like they were making sure he wasn't. And in that one moment, I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't breathe. My legs collapsed under me, and I didn't even care that half the cafeteria were staring at me, including the Cullens. I didn't even bother to keep my protections up. I was past that. And all I could think was _"No, not her! Not him! It can't have happened! It wasn't possible, because that could have never happened to her! It was perfect, and it's gone!"_ I was in hysterics, because I knew what had happened, though I didn't know how.

The only thing that could cause this much pain would be if Bella had died.


	2. Meeting

**Mending Hearts**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. :( However, I do own Erika, and I can make her give me Edward. :)

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up, but I went out of town for Spring Break so I was busy. The posting of the next chapter depends on you my readers. See the bottom of the page for more info on that.

**Acknowledgements for this chapter:  
****I would love to give HUGE thanks to my editor: Becca, you truly are amazing. Without you, my story would make no sense at all.**

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Chapter 2: Meeting

I barely registered the feeling of the floor disappearing, or the feeling of stone, cold arms, picking me up and carrying me somewhere. My thoughts were spinning. Bella couldn't be dead! Edward would never allow it. He was always there for her. He was still alive too. When he thought she was dead in New Moon, he went to the Volturi. How come he didn't go there and kill himself yet?

Oh.

I understood his family's careful glances now. They stopped him. He was alive because of them. No wonder they had to watch him though.

I heard one them ask, "What are we going to do with her?"

They were still here? Right, of course human arms couldn't be that cold. So they were taking me somewhere. I would wonder what they were going to do with me, but they themselves didn't seem to know.

"Do you think we should take her to Carlisle? She could have something seriously wrong with her to collapse like that. I don't know if the school nurse here has much training."

Wait, they weren't going to kill me? I knew their secret! What was going on? They were acting like they didn't know my thoughts. Edward should have told them by now… unless… I could think of a few reasons why he wouldn't have. Maybe I was still using my secret line of thought. No, I couldn't be doing that. This was the only thing I was thinking about. Or maybe he wasn't listening, because otherwise he would have known why I collapsed and could have told them that it wasn't the nurse I needed. Or maybe I shouldn't be thinking about Bella, because that probably just depressed him more than usual. Either way, I thought I should probably let them know I'm ok, and I had to remember to stop thinking incriminating things loudly.

Meanwhile, the Cullens had still not come to a conclusion. They were still trying to figure out what to do with me. I struggled through my shock. I had to let them know that I hadn't gone comatose.

"The nurse would be fine," I mumbled.

I could feel their eyes on me. I did my best not to open my eyes. It would probably freak me out too much, though I did wish I knew which one was carrying me.

"See? Let's just take her to the nurse. She'll be fine. We don't need to involve ourselves anymore." It must have been Rosalie who said that. Whoever spoke was female and I knew Alice could say that same sentence without being so blunt. Vaguely I noticed that I was singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' in the front of my mind. That's embarrassing. I started singing my favourite Linkin Park song again, concentrating on the words. In the back of my mind, I continued to speculate.

It must have been Jasper who spoke next, because only he could know what I was feeling. "She seems really calm actually, a little bit like she's daydreaming. Maybe she got knocked out."

"But she just said to take her to the nurse!" Rosalie exclaimed, obviously wanting to get rid of me quickly.

"She could be delirious, but sure whatever. She's not freaking out anymore."

"Anymore?" The voice was curious, so I don't think Jasper told them about my panic attack yet. It sounded really deep with emotion, so I guessed it was Emmett. If Edward said anything, it would probably sound emotionless.

"I think that's why she fainted. She got really panicky. She fainted of shock I'm pretty sure." Jasper's voice held a question that someone, I think it was Alice, asked a moment later.

"What shocked her enough to cause her to faint?" questioned Alice, slightly suspicious. "Does she know anything?" I realized that it must be Alice who was carrying me, because her voice was closest.

It was very hard for me to stay calm. I knew that Edward would tell her all that I accidentally revealed through my panic attack, and they would leave, and then I'd never see them again. I hoped that my secret line of thought actually worked so Edward wouldn't notice my planning. I still felt really sad though. They were going to leave, even if they didn't know that I knew they were vampires. I was aware enough that they wouldn't risk staying.

Edward seemed to hesitate. "I… I don't know," he muttered, so quietly I could barely catch it. His words shocked me. Surely he had heard me shouting my agony?

His family seemed to be as shocked as I was. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and one of them started to ask something, but Edward interrupted.

"It's not blocked." He said, answering their thoughts. "It's…" he hesitated, not seeming sure how to explain. I wondered what he would say, wondering if my secret thoughts were actually blocked, or if I was fooling myself. I made sure to check that I was still singing something in the front of my mind, and being annoyed when it was another stupid song, this time 'I'm A Little Teapot'. I would really have to work on my song library. I quickly changed it to 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse, and then went back to my secret thoughts. It only took a second so I zoned back into the conversation before I missed anything. Edward was still speaking.

"She seems to guard her thoughts. If she didn't move, or if she hadn't spoken earlier, I wouldn't have thought her a sentient being. It's… unusual, for a human. It's like she has two lines of thought, and I can only reach one of them. It's a little like when you guard your thoughts from me, and I can't hear what you're really thinking." Edward seemed confused, but I felt a bit proud of myself for doing so well. A bit too proud I think though, because Jasper seemed to catch it before I could hide it.

"Did you hear anything just now?" Jasper said quickly, to Edward I assume.

"No…" Edward seemed to hesitate. "She's just singing in her head. It's all I can hear." He seemed confused by Jasper's question.

"I think you're right Edward. While you were talking about your theory, her calm slipped, and she seemed really proud of something. She covered it up real quick though, so I have a felling she's concealing her emotions too." Jasper said. I had a feeling he was only speaking aloud for the other's benefit.

Alice spoke next. "I definitely think we should take her to Carlisle. She could have actually hurt herself when she fell, and I think we should talk to him about what to do with her. She seems very aware of our abilities to not know who we are." she paused. "It's not only Japer's and Edward's abilities she seems aware of. She didn't make any decisions to walk toward us or say anything until her body actually did the actions. It's like she acts on instinct." Alice seemed uncomfortable with her assessment. I remembered from the books that she didn't like being blind.

I knew that they were running when I felt a sudden breeze. It was just more reason to not open my eyes, though I was dying of curiosity. When the wind stopped I dared to take a peek at where we were. It must have been their house, because it definitely wasn't the hospital. It was large, though that's probably not doing it justice. Massive might be better to describe it. It had a wraparound porch, with a bench swing on to the left of the door, and those outdoor couches to the right.

I should've known that the Cullens would notice my eyelids fluttering. They were _vampires_ after all. It was Alice that spoke first.

"I told you Edward! She is awake. I bet she's heard our every word!" Alice exclaimed.

I figured that there was no use pretending anymore, so I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was right earlier; Alice was carrying me. Jasper stood beside Alice, looking at me curiously, and Emmett was off to Jasper's right, also staring. In fact, I realized as I looked around, they were all staring at me. Rosalie and Edward were off to my left, and I had to turn my head to look at them.

I didn't recognize where we were either. It was really heavily forested, but in a nice way, not creepy or overgrown. I could see the river between the gaps of two trees, far below. They probably lived partly on the mountain then.

Suddenly Edward clutched at his head and groaned as if in pain. Everyone turned to him, and Rosalie had to hold him up, because he was falling over.

"Whoa, Edward!" exclaimed Emmett. "What is it?" His question echoed what was on everyone's mind.

"She's singing… the… the forever song!" he finally finished. I guessed that there was some nightmare for Edward about a song that repeats itself over and over again, especially if one sings it in their head, loudly.

I blushed, realizing what he meant at once. I went immediately to check if he was right, but of course he was.

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves…"_

I stopped singing it but mentally giggled that one song like that could take him down so completely. I turned to look at him, to see if he was all right now. He was glaring at me, but his expression was still slightly confused, probably because I was still blocking him. I couldn't tell if he was glaring because of what I was singing, or if it was because I laughed at him. I couldn't remember if I had shielded that giggle.

"Sorry," I said, fighting a smile. "I didn't realize…" I could end that sentence with many lines, including, 'realize that the song caused you pain' or 'realize that I was singing it'. I chose to let them fill in the blanks to my unfinished apology. I didn't want the conversation to turn to my shielded thoughts. I didn't really get my way. Edward was staring at me, mystified, and his family was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain. He stood up, and clarified.

"I can't hear the thoughts behind her spoken words," Edward explained. "It's like the words randomly popped in her head, and she said it automatically." I noticed that Edward's voice started to sound less emotionless and more curious. I would guess that after existing for so long, hearing other people's thoughts, it would be very interesting for him to meet someone who was shielding him. The only other person he had probably met was Bella… My thoughts choked on the word. Bella wasn't here anymore. I felt the depression and panic well up again, and realized a second too late that my emotions had slipped through my calm. Jasper seemed to become more alert at once.

The rest of the Cullens noticed Jasper tense up, and some wordless communication passed between them. The next second I was inside, and being put on a large couch. Their house was even more beautiful on the inside. It was painted in earthy tones; the walls were beige and the couch I was laying on was a soft green. It was very relaxing to be in, nothing too intense to look at. I pulled myself up into a sitting position, not quite sure what their reactions were going to be. I contemplated a way to explain to them what I knew but in a way that didn't make them have to leave. I didn't think there was one. Maybe it was just better if I didn't say anything. For all they knew, I could have fainted at the sight of their beauty.

Especially now, in their well-lit house, when I could see them properly, I was stunned into silence. If I started talking now, I dimly realized, I would probably answer all their questions and more, dazzled as I was. Stephanie Meyer really didn't do them justice in the books. Her descriptions paled in comparison to them. Instead of fumbling for words that would give me away, I figured maybe it was better to check on my thoughts, seeing as how I might control those better.

Carlisle and Esme showed up then. I didn't hear anybody call them, but I guess they supposed that something must be wrong if the rest of their family came home from school so early.

I made sure that song I was singing in my head was appropriate, considering the circumstances, and then settled down to listen. They were talking really fast, too fast for me to catch what they were saying. It was easy to tell what they were discussing though; they still needed to decide what to do with me. This annoyed me slightly. I know that they were big scary vampires and I was a weak human who knew their secret, but I should still get a say in what they were going to do with me. I still didn't trust my voice to speak the words I wanted it to, and so resolved to let Edward do the talking for me. I hoped that no other thoughts would get out in my attempt to keep my thoughts rational.

"_Hey Edward?"_ I thought in the front of my mind, interrupting the song I was singing. _"Can I have a say in what happens to me? Or is it entirely your decision?"_

Edward seemed to pause, and his family caught on quickly that he had heard something from me. They looked expectantly from me to him. I chose to let him explain, still not trusting my voice.

He sighed. "She wants a say in what we're going to do with her."

"You mean, like it actually matters what she thinks?" Rosalie stated brusquely. Edward started to glare at her, which confused me. Why would Edward get mad if Rosalie was rude to me?

"Rosalie, you know better than that. You should not talk about people as if they're not really there," Esme's voice reprimanded Rosalie gently. Her voice was truly very motherly, and I could easily see that she did think of the younger members of her family as her children.

"Well, I think we should find out if she's ok first, and then we'll decide what to do with her," Carlisle suggested. "How do you feel?" he asked, turning towards me.

I didn't know how much I could trust my voice by now, but I figured that I would chance it.

I took a deep breath and started, "I'm f-fine, really."

My voice trembled slightly and I blushed without thinking. I knew they could all hear the tremble, vampire hearing or not. The blushing triggered another thought though, that left me embarrassed. How much would my blush remind Edward of Bella? I looked up quickly to see if he was ok.

Edward was looking at me curiously, and he looked slightly frustrated. I remembered that he didn't like not being able to hear, just like Alice didn't like to see. I felt bad for making him upset, but I didn't want him to hear what I was thinking.

Maybe that wasn't the problem though. Maybe he could hear me, and he was frustrated that humans kept on evading his life. That thought saddened me, but my curiosity won out. I wondered how much he could hear. I made an experiment. I would think two questions at the same time and see which one he answered.

In the forefront of my mind, I asked, _"Are you frustrated that you can't hear me?"_ and in my secret thoughts I added, _"Or can you hear all my thoughts?"_

He stiffened immediately. "So I was right." He whispered. Then louder, "You _are_ concealing your thoughts!" he was glaring at me, which would have been uncomfortable, had it not been scaring me half to death. Getting glared at by a vampire was not high on my 'things to do before I die' list, considering that if you're being glared at, you're about half a step away from the death in question. My palms started to sweat, and I could feel the adrenalin pumping through my veins, along with the instinct to run.

Jasper's voice broke through the silence. "Edward! Calm down, you're freaking her out again!" As he spoke, I felt a wave of calm come over me, and I immediately looked away from Edward. I still had goose bumps, and I concentrated on getting rid of them.

When they were nearly all gone I sighed. I could feel their eyes on me, and it was starting to annoy me. I looked up at Edward.

"Fine! Yes, I am hiding my thoughts from Edward!" I exclaimed.

When I didn't continue, Edward asked me coldly, "And you would be doing that because…?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh no, that's too easy," I said. "I wouldn't be shielding my thoughts if I wanted you to know."

They were looking at me in anticipation. I realized that they weren't going to let me get away without an explanation. At the same moment, I realized that I wasn't about to leave without their story either. So I decided to compromise.

"Look, I know you want to interrogate me, but you're not the only one who has questions. So how about this: you first." I proposed. All of them looked incredulous at my supposed authority.

"Why do you think that would work?" asked Emmett, laughing.

I arched my eyebrow at him. "Well then, seeing as how I seem to be fine, I see no other reason for me to stick around. So why don't I leave?" I started to get up.

A cold arm pushed me back onto the couch. "You're not going anywhere." Edward said accusingly. Then, suddenly his expression was pained. "Alice…" Edward got up and walked to another chair across the room and buried his face in his hands, while Alice came over to help make sure I didn't go anywhere.

I didn't understand. Why was he in so much pain? Was I singing something bad? I checked, but it was only some old Avril song. Nothing bad… oh. It hit me then. I was singing 'Slipped Away.' That was probably not a song Edward needed to hear. I felt really bad for hurting him, and I immediately stopped singing. I apologized in my head to him. I didn't sing another song though, because I didn't think anything would be appropriate by now. I just let my mind go blank.

I realized that my plan wasn't quite thought out, because a moment later a moan escaped his lips. I was probably reminding him of Bella. I couldn't let him be in pain because of me! It wasn't right, and I didn't want to be responsible for causing him pain. My mind raced for a way to distract him. I grasped at the straws, but I couldn't figure out anything that wouldn't cause him pain while my thoughts were shielded.

It's amazing how dramatic one moment in life can make. One moment I was trying to get the upper hand in a room full of vampires, and the next, I was trying to stop hurting one. Emmett, Esme, and Jasper were staring at Edward, but the rest of them weren't. Alice was watching me to make sure I didn't run off, and Carlisle seemed to be deciding what to do about me. Rosalie, off to the side a little, was staring out the window, like I was already gone.

Edward was staring down at the floor, his face in his hands. I had to distract him, to make him forget about his pain, and I could only think of one way. If it caused him pain to not hear my thoughts, then maybe if he could, he would look at that instead. Maybe, for a moment, he would be distracted, and then his family could do something to keep his mind off of it.

So I let all my shields down, and showed him around my mind.

I didn't hear his gasp as I began. I told him everything. How I started reading Twilight when I was little, when I found an old copy in the downstairs library of our old house. My dad had bought them for my mother for her birthday once, but she never read them; only me. My family wasn't really interested in it, and they judged a book by its cover. They didn't want to read about vampires.

How I read it anyway, and loved it from the first word. How I asked my mom to buy me the rest of the series and she did. How I tried to convince my friends to read it, but they had better things to read. The fad was over after all. Nobody read the books anymore.

How I pondered over becoming a vampire. How I loved the perfect world that was created at the end of Breaking Dawn, where everything worked out, and life was bested for once. How I made a plan for if I ever encountered the Cullens, just for fun at first, but then how it became a way of life for me. How I learned to block my thoughts, and hide my emotions, how I tried to act on instinct. How I decided that if I ever did meet them, it would be rude to reveal their secret when they were just trying to be normal and not bugging anyone. How I wished that I could meet a guy like Edward Cullen.

How I got depressed when I realized that the bar was set too high. How I realized that no human boy would be good enough for me. How I wanted to have a gentlemen who could be romantic, but not in a soppy, French-speaking way, love me. How I cried when it hit me; vampires weren't real. How I realized that only a vampire would be perfect for me at the same time. How I was envious of Bella for getting to meet vampires, but not in a grudge-holding way. How I wished I could have someone like Edward Cullen; then how I got over it, because I realized that life wouldn't give me something that good. Life hated me.

I stopped my memories there. I didn't want him to think I was a crazed fangirl, lusting over him. I thought hard at him. How I realized that I couldn't get Edward Cullen, because even if I met him, Bella was too perfect, and I couldn't ever break that apart. How I wished I could have someone for my own that didn't have a girlfriend at the time, so I didn't have to break up any couples, because I didn't want to add discord to the perfect family that was the Cullens. I would be the worst kind of monster to do that.

I finally looked up to his reaction, to see if my distraction worked. Apparently it had. He was completely absorbed in the thoughts I had just given him. His eyes were glazed over, and he was incredibly still. I looked around, and noticed that his whole family was staring at Edward anxiously, not knowing what had just happened to him. It was then I noticed that everyone was still standing exactly where they were when I started to think at Edward. That made me start a little bit; I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that it had felt like minutes, rather than seconds had passed.

I looked back at Edward, who had composed himself by now, and was looking at me curiously, while reassuring his family that he was fine. I wondered why he still looked curious; did he still not understand my mind, even when I revealed all to him?

"It's not that," Edward replied, answering my thoughts. "It's the reason behind your actions. It's… very original, I guess. I've never met a teenage mind as developed as…" His words broke off, his voice showing a hint of pain. I knew immediately where his thoughts were going, and I panicked. I didn't even notice when I stood up. Now what? I didn't know what else I could do to cheer him up; I didn't want to see him sad.

He glanced up and made a half smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You don't have to do anything, Erika." I felt a small shock go through me as he said my name, comprehending a moment later that he probably knew my name from my memories.

I still looked down, upset that he was hurt. I turned around and sat back on the couch, hoping his family could cheer him up better than I could. They looked confused by the exchange, and Alice looked a little frustrated that she was only getting half of the conversation. She always seemed to want to know what was going on. I didn't blame her. If I could see the future, I would be impatient too.

Edward looked up at his family, his pain masked from his eyes now. "So what's the decision?" he asked, as if he didn't already know.

They all looked at each other; they seemed surprised that there would be a question. Alice spoke for them. "I don't think we're quite sure of that yet, but we're probably going to be leaving." I gasped, and I think only Edward knew exactly how I felt about that. He glanced at me, and Alice looked curiously at me before continuing, this time talking to me. "We should get you home; you look like you could use a rest."

I didn't want to go home yet though. I didn't get their side of the story. It wasn't fair that they know everything about me and I knew nothing about them. Edward already knew I wouldn't tell. I would also probably never see them again. Of course the Cullens would leave, I thought sadly; I knew about who they were, about _what_ they were. But I didn't want to leave yet. I didn't want _them_ to leave yet. I wanted to know more.

Looking at Edward again… I couldn't let them leave, knowing that my only memories of Edward were him in pain. The depth of it, when you looked in his eyes… my breath caught, just remembering. It was like there was no more reason to go on living when you're other half is gone, and you know it. I knew his pain was probably deeper and more intense, him being a vampire with stronger emotions. He had his other half, but it was taken from him, and he would never find anyone else to fill that gap. The thought made my heart ache sharply, and a throb of pain flared up as I imagined how hard that must be for him; to feel your heart torn in two so forcefully…

Edward interrupted my thoughts.

"You have no idea," he said to me, the pain clear in his voice. He sighed, and his expression became unfathomable. "We _should_ get you home though, you're parents might be worried when they hear that you fainted." I thought I heard a smirk in his voice, and I glared. A moment later his words sunk in, and I resigned myself to not seeing them again. I should start getting used to the idea if I wasn't ever going to see them again. I sighed, and got up from the couch.

Edward nodded in Alice's direction. "You're right, school would probably be better. She might be able to go to her last class, or at least pretend nothing happened."

This stunned me for a moment. School wasn't over yet? Time sure was doing strange things to me today. I sighed again and started walking towards the door. Rosalie's voice stopped me this time.

"You're letting her go back to school? Where she'll tell everyone? What do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

"What else would you have us do with her?" asked Carlisle.

Edward hissed. "Absolutely not!"

Rosalie seemed surprised by the force of his answer, and looked critically at Edward.

"I'll explain later. Just get her back to school," Edward said.

I remembered then that I still hadn't heard their side of the story, but I was worried about causing them pain by bringing up painful memories. I deliberated; should I bring it up?

"Don't push it," Edward said, catching my eye and my thoughts. I nodded once and turned to leave. Esme beat me to the door and held it open for me while I stepped out. I didn't look back.

**

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**

Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

Now here's the thing: I don't want to write a story that nobody wants to read. That's just a waste of my time. So if you like my story, please review! I'm not going to post chapter 3 until I get at least 10 different people review my story. So tell your friends about it or something, if you want more. Just for incentive, chapter 3 is from Edward's POV, and a lot of secrets are revealed. You want to read it.

Something else random. I tried to create a vampire smiley for IMing and here's what I got: *:D  
It's sparkely! But I would also like to know if anyone else figured out something better. Just because I think vampire smileys are cool *:)

Stay Vamptastic!

~Moql


	3. Excuses

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own the tree. Nothing else.

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers! Also to Becca, my editor. I feel like she should be getting half the credit for this story.

**Dedication:  
This chapter is dedicated to bella2404. Your review really made my day! Thank you for inspiring me. *:)**

This chapter is from **EDWARD'S POV.** Please don't get it confused and ask me about it.

* * *

Chapter 3: Excuses

As soon as I heard Alice's car hit the pavement,_ I_ left. I couldn't even hold myself together long enough to explain to Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper why I left in such a hurry, though I'm sure they all knew, especially Jasper. I couldn't believe that I had held myself together for as long as I did when that girl kept thinking of…

I was running, and that's when I fell, taking out a couple of trees in the process.

I was shocked. I never fell while running. No vampires ever fell while running, not by accident. I was still slightly stunned as I picked myself up off of the ground and started running again. I let the shock fill my brain so I didn't start thinking about what had caused me to trip in the first place. I hoped it would be enough.

I didn't really know where I wanted to go. I just needed to get away. Away from thoughts, and accusations, and questions. I wouldn't ever be able to go far, my family didn't trust me enough for that. I just needed to be farther away than I was. Plus, I didn't want Alice to find me quite yet. I needed to think.

I headed deep into the forest, going up into the mountains.

Then I saw it.

In the middle of a small clearing, dominating the centre space was a huge cottonwood tree.

It was really tall, and I knew I'd be able to see the river from the top. I liked it, and mentally claimed it as mine. It was a perfect thinking spot.

I jumped from branch to branch, climbing to the top for the view. I leaned my back against the trunk and looked out. Even after a hundred years I still admired the beauty that nature presented to those who stopped to look.

With a twist of pain my treacherous brain reminded me of Bella. She loved the forest, our meadow…

I jumped down so that I wouldn't fall when the pain hit, but I was still 10 feet up when it came. I fell the last feet to the ground, curling up in a ball immediately. I could feel the pieces of me starting to drift, wanting to be sucked up into the nothingness that loomed so close to the edge of my consciousness. I was hyperventilating and dry sobs racked my body.

I remembered what Jacob had thought of pain he once had. "Like being dragged slowly across a bed of razor blades." I had felt his pain then, when I had entered his mind.

Mine was a thousand times worse.

Emotions were always stronger in a vampire. We had a capacity for them that humans, or werewolves for that matter, couldn't even fathom. What I felt now was so completely crippling, I would have lost consciousness if I could. I was not longer aware of the forest around me. The Volturi could have come and burned me to my pile of ashes and I wouldn't have noticed.

I was too far into my memories.

* * *

_Bella. My worst nightmare of Bella, cold and lifeless on the ground, her hair streaming out around her, blood outlining her in a grisly canvas. I ran to her, the blood not even close to tempting me. I was the only one of my family who could come near; Carlisle had not yet arrived._

"_Bella! Bella, no!" I screamed. She did not stir._

_I picked up her limp body. I could hear the blood dripping off of her onto the damp pavement._

_Only then did she shift. Her eyes did not open, but her lips formed a single word._

"_Edward," she whispered, almost too quietly for me to hear. I nearly collapsed then; her voice was so feeble._

_Her heartbeat, already so weak, stuttered and I panicked. She wouldn't make a trip to the hospital; she was too far-gone for that. Carlisle wouldn't arrive for another few minutes._

_She wouldn't be able to hold on. Already I could tell her heart was failing. Every moment counted._

_I was going to have to change her._

_I was just lowering my head to her neck when I heard the difference. Her heart was weaker; I had to strain to hear it. It stuttered once, twice, and then fell still. Only a few seconds had passed since she had said my name._

_Then I was biting her, the venom in my mouth being forced into her body. I dropped to the ground, still biting everywhere I could reach. I laid her gently on the ground, and started CPR. I would not let Bella die here, not now, not ever._

_I was battling death, just to keep her alive long enough for the venom to take effect._

_I worked relentlessly, completely unaware of the world around me. My world had shrunk to this small patch of ground, and the body lying upon it. The body of the girl I loved, the girl who changed my life, the girl who I could not, would not live without._

_Her heart was refusing to beat on its own. I was forcing my venom and what was left of her blood through dying veins._

_There was still no change when Carlisle arrived. I only noticed him when his hand appeared, checking her wounds, her pulse, wiping away blood._

_Then his hands were over mine, stopping their movement, stopping me from saving her life. He had noticed what I refused to acknowledge; her blood had stopped flowing over her many wounds._

_And he spoke the words that broke me._

"_Edward," he paused, grabbing my hands when they escaped to try to continue to save her. "Edward, she's gone."_

_I snarled fiercely, my growl loud enough that Carlisle took a step back._

_But I was looking into her broken face, so beautiful, even lifeless and cold, and I knew the truth in his words._

* * *

The next few months, I was dead.

Not literally, I guess. I still moved and breathed, and hunted. My heart did not beat, but it hasn't for hundreds of years, though those days with Bella could have fooled me.

How is it that a _car crash_ could have killed her? Of all things! She survived James, and Laurent, and Victoria. She even survived the Volturi, and young werewolves. And then she was gone, while driving to Port Angeles. It was only about 2 weeks to the wedding, and I had been so unsure, but she insisted that I hunt. I hadn't gone for weeks, and my eyes had been black as pitch, I didn't have to look in a mirror to know that.

I was always nearby of course; she didn't know, but I could never be so far away from her for long. I had just caught the scent of some elk grazing a few hundred yards away, I would only be a minute with those, and then I would be back.

A minute was all it took.

I heard the screech of tires, and a cut-off scream that I knew to be Bella's. I flew through the forest, faster than I ever had before.

And I was too late.

She was there, lying on the ground, her eyes closed, her legs twisted at an odd angle. There were cuts from glass all over her body. Her arms could have been shreds of blood, muscle, and bone; there was no longer a shape to them. Deep slices covered her torso, and her heartbeat was already weakened…

I was too late.

I was too late.

The words repeated over and over again in my mind. I was going to be up and running as soon as Carlisle spoke the words, but Alice was faster. Her vision had taken place while I was trying to save Bella. I had resolved in those first few weeks of knowing her that I would go to the Volturi if she died, this was proved when I thought she had died before, when she had jumped off the cliff.

It was so different now, having her die in my arms. The agony was unbearable last time I went to the Volturi, this time it was completely crippling. I wasn't even sure if I needed the Volturi, I felt like I would die right here, just from utter agony.

When I did finally stand up, Emmett was on me faster than I could blink. Alice had seen my resolution to go to the Volturi, and my family wasn't going to take any risks this time like they had last time. They knew how desperate I was already, this time, they knew, it would be worse.

I still struggled against Emmett, some sort of vampire adrenaline running through me. I would _not_ let Bella go anywhere without me, and that included into death. There was no way _Emmett_ was going to stop me, amazing strength or not. Jasper seemed to see that Emmett was having troubles, and stepped in to help. I was totally down now, but I wasn't giving up anytime soon.

For the next year, I barley left the house. When I hunted, the whole family came with me. Other than that, I was under 24-hour surveillance. My family wouldn't let me get away twice.

Life went on outside of my prison. I was appalled by some of the stories I heard about how life was going on outside, and what the new fads were. The 'New Harry Potter' that fans were flocking to. The reason the rest of my family was condemned to the indoors, the reason we had to move around so much.

Stephanie Meyer, a good friend of ours, had published a book about us.

That wasn't the worst part. That wasn't the part that made furious growls erupt from my long-noiseless throat. What had gotten me was that after … _her_… death, Stephanie decided a better ending was in order, and had a neat little story package written up with a happy ending. I was all ludicrous of course; I knew that. I had read the books once, and then I had thrown them down, disgusted. It wasn't possible for vampires to reproduce, nor would the Volturi take _everyone_, including the wives, to take down our coven, they had more sense than that. It was also pretty much impossible for a newborn to be so controlled, unless it _was_ their gift, which was clearly not the case.

Though now most of the human world knew about us, and were searching all four corners of the earth to meet us; and our imprisonment began. Only in the last few years had we dared leave our house, and we moved a lot, not daring to settle in one place for more than one year, just to be careful. This was our fifth high school since the… incident.

I shuddered once and my mind finally turned away to other thoughts.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed time passing. It had been a few hours since I had found this place, and I felt incredibly exhausted.

I spent the next little while trying to compose myself. It was starting to get dark, and I knew Carlisle would be home soon, and they would all come looking for me. I needed to get my thoughts in order before they did.

Where to start?

I needed a story. How would I explain my actions to my family? They would all be wondering of course. What was I thinking, defending that human girl?

I could think of a few reasons, but none of them were good enough. There really was no reason to act like that.

But I couldn't have done anything else.

My feeble reasons weren't enough: knowing more about her was one. I wanted to know more about how she concealed her thoughts, and what she hid there. What was it that she felt that she didn't want me to know about? Because that's why she did it in the first place: to stop me from hearing what she was actually thinking. So I wanted to know what she was thinking, because I was too used to knowing what everyone was thinking, and I was never left wondering. I had to figure out how to get through her shield.

Another reason was what I knew already about her. I still didn't quite understand how she developed such concern for our family, and why it mattered to her so much what had happened. Why was she so upset when she figured out what happened to Bella? Shouldn't she act like all the other fangirls would have, and tried to hit on me, or something like that? That was what all those fangirls always dreamed about: having me all to themselves. So why didn't she act like that? I didn't understand her logic.

And how much pain she felt when she thought we were going to leave. She had prepared all her life for us to show up, knowing that we probably never would. Then we did, fulfilling her every dream, and we were going to leave. Not only did I pity her slightly, but also I felt a little guilty. After Bella, I couldn't cause humans pain, no matter how superficial. I was as good as Carlisle, resisting the temptation that human blood presents. I don't notice anymore. Anyone of those people I might kill could be somebody else's Bella, either now or in the future. I didn't like seeing this girl in pain, especially when it was partially my fault; I was the one leaving. Last time I left someone, thinking it was best, the person who I was trying to save jumped off a cliff.

I couldn't cause her pain, which was the main reason I stopped Rosalie from killing her. I wouldn't be able to stand by while my family killed a human. Not when I could stop it. My family might not care about humans as much as I did, but if I could stop them from killing one, I would.

My final reason: my astonishment. It's not easy to distract a vampire when they can think of many things at once, or if they're thinking particularly hard about something. I was that close to collapsing from my memories about Bella, and she distracted me; _t__wice_. My family can't even do that most times. What had this girl done that distracted me so much? Why were her thoughts so consuming?

Maybe there was another reason. I just wanted to _know_ her, to be around her. For that brief time that I was around her, my pain was at a slight bay. Even when my thoughts were ready to destroy me, she brought me back.

I couldn't defend it, but I knew that I just couldn't leave her without another word.

* * *

So there's the long-awaited chapter 3! Again, I would like more than 4 reviews before I post chapter four. Just common courtesy people.

I do accept flames and anonymous reviews, if that was holding you back.

Also please check out my profile page. It has information about my stories (past, present, and future), updates, and sneak previews of upsoming chapters. It's definitley worth a look. And you can PM me at anytime. I actually will reply. *:P

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	4. Explanations

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Good thing too. If I owned Edward, I could rule the world! *:D

**Dedication:  
This chapter is dedicated to any of the people who saw my story "Will the Madness Never End?" on that first day. 103 people saw it in the first 12 hours, good job people! You really inspire me to keep going.**

Thanks as always to my editor, Becca. My story only made sense in my head until you came along!

* * *

Chapter 4: Explanations

It was midnight, and I couldn't sleep.

It was a good thing that I didn't have school tomorrow. I don't think I would've gotten near enough sleep.

I had been trying to get to sleep for hours, but I kept on running my encounter with Edward over and over in my head. I didn't want to ever forget it. I didn't know if I'd ever see the Cullens again, though I uselessly wished I could.

A slight breeze ruffled my hair, from the open window. It was warm in my house tonight, so I had closed the door earlier and opened the window to help me cool down. It didn't help that much, but the breeze was comfortable.

I sighed and sat up. I knew that trying to get to sleep when you couldn't didn't actually help, and the best thing was not to try. Also the conversation with him was keeping me awake; it kept on playing repeatedly in my head. It was almost as if I was subconsciously afraid it would disappear if I went to sleep. I would write the whole story down, but I was a tiny bit paranoid. I did say that I wouldn't tell anyone about them, and if I wrote it down someone might read it. Not that anyone would know what I was talking about, and the ones that did would probably think that I was making it up. I stacked my pillows up and leaned back against them, closing my eyes.

It was a while later, and I was almost asleep, when I heard the quietest of taps against the glass of my window. I kept my eyes closed, it could be a bug for all I knew, and I didn't really care anyway.

More taps followed, getting slightly louder. I was now sort of annoyed. Why didn't the stupid bug figure out that there was glass there yet? I sighed and opened my eyes so I could get up and close the window or something.

My eyes widened at what I saw there. A small squeak escaped my lips.

Edward Cullen was standing outside my house, tapping my window.

He was standing on the roof that was just outside my window. I almost wondered how he got up there, up on the second floor, when I remembered his special vampireness. Of course he could get up there. The question was why.

"Can I come in?"

His voice broke through my thoughts, which he could probably hear. I quickly shielded them, hiding my surprise. An annoyed look crossed his face for a moment.

Right, he didn't like that. I relaxed a little bit, and let some of my thoughts through.

What do you think you're doing?_ I thought at him._

He laughed. "Didn't you want some explanations?"

I blinked. Was he serious?

_And how do you plan on getting in here? Not to mention my parents are right across the hall. What were you thinking? _My thoughts were scattered, and I was actually still in shock a little bit.

He answered my questions one at a time. "I planned on moving this screen, and jumping through your window. Your parents are deep asleep, and they won't hear anything. Not to mention I will know if they do." He tapped his head before continuing. "And I was thinking that I wanted to get away from my family, and that you deserved an explanation."

"Umm… okay then," I said, speaking aloud for the first time.

He pulled away the screen, quietly than I ever thought possible, and jumped onto my bed, putting the screen back in behind him, all in one movement. Tilting his head to the side, he sat down cross-legged on my bed. I glanced at the door with wide eyes, worrying that one of my parents would hear him.

"No it's fine. Your parents are still asleep," he said.

I was still staring at him when he looked at me. I looked down, blushing slightly.

"So…" I started.

He sighed. "What do you want to know first?"

I thought about that, sorting out my questions. _I want to know what happened to… to Bella. How…?_ My thought petered out, and I looked anxiously at him, hoping that I didn't upset him too much.

Grimacing, he looked down. "She… she was hit by a car. There was so much blood…" he paused, obviously lost in his memory for the moment. I waited patiently. "I had to bite her there. There was no way she was going to make it to a hospital. No human methods were going to save her. It… it wasn't enough. She had lost too much blood; she was too injured. Her heart failed before the venom could take effect. It was only 2 weeks until the wedding, and she was driving to Port Angeles. She insisted that I hunt, because I hadn't gone for so long. I followed her of course." His voice faltered, and was quieter when he finally continued.

"It only took a moment. I had caught the scent of some elk, and went to hunt them… then I heard her scream…" He couldn't go on, I could see that. Without thinking, I reached over and squeezed one of his hands.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. It wasn't smart of me at all…" My apologies cut off when he looked up at my face, and I saw his eyes. Such a depth to the pain I saw in them! It was a suffering that I couldn't even imagine. My breath caught and my throat closed up as I imagined the pain he must be in, and how twisted his face looked in that pain. I was close to tears, just hearing the story, but seeing his pain…

His face changed as he saw mine and registered my expression. He seemed horrified for some reason.

"No, no! You shouldn't feel bad for that!" He said quickly. "You wanted to know, and you should wonder- it's only natural. It's not your fault. I… I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you sad!" His eyes were pleading, asking me to forgive him.

My curiosity flared up again; why should he care if he hurt me in any way? Not that he did. I was sad because he was, and now he was because I was! This was all backwards.

"There's nothing to forgive, I'm not mad at you," I said, responding to his begging eyes. "It was just…" My thoughts finished my sentence; replaying over the story he had just told me. I took a deep breath.

"So… no Renesmee?"

"No. Not that she was possible in the first place." His nostrils flared. "The difference in the chromosome count makes it impossible. That was a figment of Stephenie Meyer's imagination."

"So there was no wedding, and no Volturi attack, and Jacob didn't… wait, Jacob! Is he okay? What happened to him?"

"He's… well as fine as he could be considering… He ran off, into the woods, in his wolf form. He's trying to stop being human again, trying to forget how to change back. I'm pretty sure he's almost there."

"Oh," I said. Another great sadness welled up in me. How many people had Bella's death affected?

"Quite a few, I guess. I don't really help that." He paused, and noticed my confusion. "It's not like I'm the picture of happiness and sunshine…" He seemed sheepish. "My family worries about me all the time. When… when it happened, they had to stop me from going to the Volturi. They're the only reason I'm alive now… and I'm not sure if I'm thankful or not yet," he added, bitter.

"Well," I began, not really sure what to say to his proclamation of his wish for death, or whatever it was vampires did. "I'm glad that you're not gone."

He sighed. "Yeah, you and everyone else. Except for Rosalie possibly… no, not even her I don't think."

"Why did Stephenie Meyer do it?" I asked suddenly. "Why did she lie about what happened."

"Would you want to write about the death of your protagonist?"

"Oh, I guess I see your point. She took a lot of creative liberty with it though, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did. But she's always been like that. You can't blame her. She's a good person, a good friend of ours, even if she did expose us."

"About that. Is she still alive? Why haven't the Volturi gotten her and killed her yet?"

He smirked. "Two reasons. First of all, she's a vampire, so they can't kill her as easily-"

"Stephenie Meyer is a vampire?!?!?"

"Shh! You'll wake up your parents. Yes, she is a vampire. Also, her talent is to escape anyone anywhere and anytime she wants to. So the Volturi can't find her."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, she's very powerful. It's a very good thing she's also a vegetarian, because I don't think anyone would want to cross her if she got out of control killing humans."

I was having troubles taking it all in. Stephenie Meyer, a vampire; and a powerful one at that? It reminded me of a song by the Bella Cullen Project, a band I liked.

Stephenie Meyer's the queen of all vampires, How does she make this stuff up?

_She's got to be some form of genius, _

_With Twilight she's hit the jackpot._

I laughed; they were close. We were silent for a moment. I was comfortable where I was, and I was finally getting tired. He seemed to sense this.

"I should probably let you get some sleep. You're very tired."

"No! Wait! What if I don't see you again? Are you leaving?"

"No, we aren't leaving, but don't say a single word at school. It's very close."

"What happened?" I asked, suddenly a bit more awake.

"I convinced them to stay. I told them that you weren't going to say anything, and we just got settled. None of us wanted to move again, when we just got here. I managed to convince them that we could stay, at least for a little bit, to see how it went. That's why you can't say or do anything. Everybody's going to be watching your every move now."

"Fun." I yawned.

"You really should get some sleep. We're going to be at school on Monday, so you don't have to worry." He smiled, and stood up.

"Okay… well… goodnight then." I paused. "Wait I have one more question."

"Another?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

"Just one. Where do you live now?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Could you just tell me if it's close by?"

"No, it's far from here. You don't have to worry about me intruding on your thoughts all the time."

Stupid know it all mind reader.

He laughed, jumping out my window onto the roof. "Goodnight, Erika."

"'Night Edward." I mumbled, knowing he could hear.

It was shocking that I fell asleep at all that night, but somehow I did.

* * *

I liked it underneath the bridge; it was so peaceful. I couldn't hear other people. It was just the river and I. I walked here sometimes with my dog, but he didn't like it when cars drove by on the bridge. It scared him.

Today I was alone. I had gotten out of the house before it had gotten too dark. I told my parents that I was going for a walk; I really needed to think.

I started by taking deep breaths. There was something about encounters with vampires that really shook my calm and focus. It probably had something to do with the fact that they really freaked me out.

I was listening to my iPod to relax, and I started to forget about the world around me.

"Hello"

"Gah!" I gasped, nearly falling over while I jumped in shock. Edward had appeared out of nowhere, almost making it necessary for him to perform CPR on me.

I sat there for a moment, trying to make my heart slow down. It wasn't an easy task. Meanwhile Edward just sat there beside me, staring out to the river.

Only when my heart had calmed down enough did I start to wonder.

"Jeez Edward! Give me some warning or something! I nearly had a heart attack just now!" I panted for a few more moments. "Why are you here?" I finally asked.

He shrugged.

I raised my eyebrow. What was he hiding? There had to be a reason.

"I thought you weren't supposed to involve yourselves? Wasn't I supposed to be ignored or something?" I asked.

"They actually don't know I'm here," He said casually.

"You didn't tell them?"

"No."

"Wouldn't Alice see? I thought she was watching more now."

"Oh, yeah," he seemed surprised that he had forgotten about that.

"You. _Forgot._ About. _Alice_?" I said. Then I smiled, "I bet she wouldn't like to know that."

"It's not like I planned to come here."

"You didn't?"

"No."

He didn't look as if he was going to continue, so I led the prompts.

"So you're here because…"

"I was just wandering around town," he shrugged. "I… I guess I somewhat ended up at your house, and then your scent went down to the river… and I was curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"I'm not a cat."

I rolled my eyes. "So you've taken up stalking now, have you?"

He replied nonchalantly. "It was where my feet took me."

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I looked out at river again.

After a moment he continued. "Why do you like to sit here so much? There is graffiti everywhere, and you don't even want to know what I can smell…"

I sighed. "I know. I don't really know where else to go though. I like the river. It's so calming… and really, I would prefer to sit on one of the other supports, but it's not like I could get there. The grads haven't even gotten there, and they get everywhere! Have you seen some of the rocks around here?"

He didn't respond to my explanation. A sudden gust of wind brought tears to my eyes and it took a moment to blink them away.

"What…!" I gasped, when my vision was clear again. I looked around me. There was no more graffiti around me, and the highway was no longer behind me. The river surrounded me. I looked up towards Edward questioningly. "What did you do?"

He smirked, and gestured for me to look around the pillar.

There, on the other side, was the spot I was just sitting, across half a river. He had carried me here, to where I wanted to go.

I smiled without thinking, but it slipped a little.

"What is it? Do you want to go back?" Edward's voice was worried; he probably thought he had scared me. I rolled my eyes; he was so unsure of himself.

"I was just wondering if next time you take me somewhere super speed, if you could warn me first"

"Why"

"So I can watch. I miss all the fun if you don't warn me!"

We both laughed, and then I went back to the other side of the pillar to sit down. Edward followed me there and sitting down beside me he smiled.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked.

I didn't think he was answering my question when he said, "The sky is really blue today, isn't it?"

I stared at him incredulously for a moment, but then the hilarity of the moment struck me, and I broke down into hysterics. Edward's face became alarmed by my outburst, and my laughter increased from the look on his face.

After a moment, I think his curiosity won out over his plans to put me in a mental facility, as I could imagine him planning to do.

"What is so funny?" His tone was confused and slightly wary. He obviously didn't know what to think.

"You… and the river… bridge… sky!" I gasped out, realizing that it didn't make sense, but I was too busy trying to control myself to care. I waited until I had stop laughing as hard and my breathing slowed.

"Sorry, it was just…" I stifled a giggle. "It kinda hit me that I was sitting under a bridge on a support pillar that nobody can get to because it's in the middle of a river, with _Edward Cullen_, and he was remarking on the _colour of the sky_ to me! How more random can you get?" My laughter garbled the end of the sentence a bit, but I was pretty sure he got it, because a short laugh escaped his lips. I froze momentarily at the sound, but then smiled. I understood now why Bella loved the sound of his laughter. It was hard to describe, but it was wonderful.

I sighed and leaned back against the pillar, my brief fit of fit of laughter exhausting me. Edward seemed content just sitting beside me, staring at my face. I could feel myself blushing under his gaze. It felt so… exposing, like he was watching my every move, which he probably was.

I was the one who broke the silence, trying to direct his gaze elsewhere. "Okay, Edward, here's the thing. I _know_ you don't do anything without thinking about it first. You over think _everything_. So I want a real answer…" I took a deep breath, not sure if a real answer was what I actually wanted. "Why are you here?"

"Always the wrong questions," I thought I heard him mutter. He paused.

"Am I going to have to prompt you again?" I asked, trying to make him speak.

He sighed, and answered in the negative, while looking like he was searching for the right words.

"How about a better question? Why _don't _you want to tell me?"

Looking out onto the river he answered carefully. "I… I don't have… a good _reason_… to be here," he paused, and then continued in a whisper I could barely hear.

"But I want to be."

His words stunned me for a moment, and I started thinking behind my mental shield, my secret thoughts, as I begun to call them. He couldn't have meant that last part. What could I, a human he just met and didn't know, have to keep him here? I guess some of that isn't true though. He does know me… through my thoughts. Is there something there? Maybe he was just curious about something I didn't go into detail about. That definitely wouldn't be a good reason, but a reason he would want to be here. I couldn't think of anything else, but I didn't have much of a chance, because Edward changed the subject.

"What am I going to tell them when I get home?" he asked, sighing.

"How should I know?"

"You seem to know more about them than most people."

"Not more than you." I retorted, rolling my eyes.

He laughed- a carefree sound. "I suppose I might have a better idea."

It was only then I permitted myself to look away for a moment. I hadn't dared until now; afraid he was going to disappear when I wasn't looking. It was with shock that I noticed how dark it was getting. Edward picked up on my thoughts, for I hadn't bothered to shield them.

"You should be getting home, you must be cold by now," he fretted, and I was strongly reminded of my mother. "You human's are so delicate," he added in a whisper, the pain in his voice almost unnoticeable if you hadn't been searching for it.

He stood up and turned towards me to help me up. When I took his proffered hand, he swung me up into his arms, and I laughed. Then he jumped, and my eyes were open this time to see the speed that we flew towards the side of the river. It was odd that I wasn't scared. In cars, I often started panicking if it started going over 100km/hr, afraid the car would crash. In Edward's arms though, I felt surprisingly safe, like nothing could touch me.

We arrived at my house a few seconds later. None of my neighbours seemed to notice my sudden appearance. I turned to him after he set me down. "Would you like to come in?" I invited politely.

He smiled slightly as he answered, "Another day, possibly," and then he was gone in a rush of wind. I stood there for a moment, trying to calm down my nerves, and then went into my house. It _was_ cold outside; I couldn't deny his logic there. As I walked upstairs to my room, I noticed nervous little jitters of energy shooting through my body. I was trembling a little bit too. This was always how it always was, after I was nervous. I would be fine for the actual event, not nervous at all. Then as I finished I would tremble, and feel the butterflies in my stomach. It was strange- most people felt that way beforehand. It felt like my end of year exams all over again.

I lay down on the bed, trying to calm my nerves. I tried to remind myself that it was over, and there was nothing I could do to change any aspect of my conversation with Edward now. Another strange buzz went through me as I realized I would most likely see him again on Monday, if the Cullens were still in school. I felt a swell of shame when I grasped that it would be my fault if they weren't. It wasn't fair that they had to leave because of me.

The rest of the weekend passed in this way; I was alternately being worried and excited for Monday. At least school wouldn't be boring anymore.

* * *

Oh my goodness! Is Edward stalking her now too? Lol anyway, thanks for your support. If you really wanted to let me know how much you love this story, or love me (*;P) make sure to review, and maybe I'll get chapters up faster. Not too fast though; I have a policy about not posting more than once a week on the same story. It adds suspence... *;P

Remeber to check out my profile for updates, information on more of my stories, and sneak previews to upcoming chapters!

Stay Vanptastic!  
~Moql


	5. Changing

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing. And that English assignment was horrible. That scene actually happened.

**Dedication:  
I dedicate this chapter to my friend Tara, who gave me the most beautiful review on Facebook!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Changing

It was true; school wasn't boring anymore, but for the wrong reasons. The semester had changed last Monday, and so I had to adjust to all my new classes. I was excited though, to see if Edward was in one of them, or what he would do at lunch. I was sad to note that he wasn't in my English or Social Studies class, but I thought maybe he would find me at lunch.

When I said that school wasn't boring for all the wrong reasons, I meant that the only good reason that school wouldn't be boring would be Edward. I was excited to talk to him again, though I was way too nervous to talk to him myself. So I waited for him to talk to me. And waited. A whole week passed, and though I would see him once in a while in the halls, he never gave me any notice. I began to worry. Had he changed his mind? It didn't make me feel any better but I knew a good explanation would be that he was honouring his family's wishes, and had started ignoring me. I wanted to talk to him, if only to find out if that was the reason for sure.

The next Monday, I was feeling a little better. The weekend had passed, and I had made a decision. I figured if he ignored me, then I would ignore him. It was unhealthy to dwell upon him for so long, when I knew we couldn't be friends.

My friends didn't seem to notice much of a difference in me. It was all varying degrees of hyperactivity to them. Even when I was a little upset, I was still pretty active. My thoughts were far away anyway, lingering over the details of a conversation from a week ago… with a vampire… whose name was Edward. I knew it was unhealthy to stay stuck in the past, but sometimes I couldn't help it.

Time dragged that morning until it was time for my first class- English. I liked this class, because a lot of my friends were in it. I walked with Becca to the door and we took our seats. She sat in front of me, next to another one of my friends, Jake. I used to like to tease him about his name, because it was the same as the Jacob's from Twilight, but it got boring quickly, seeing as how he had no idea what I was talking about. I sat next to Serena, yet another friend, who usually could keep her energy level as high as mine.

We were working on an in-class essay, and we were all very annoyed about it. It was the most boring, repetitive thing ever.

"I can't believe we actually have to finish this in class!" I complained.

Serena laughed. "Yeah, you don't have anything done."

"Not to mention there's never enough time to finish things in class." Becca added.

"At least we're allowed to type up the good copies on the computer. I can edit mine more then." I said.

"Um… no, you're not, Erika," said Serena. "This _is_ the good copy."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "You mean we can't even type it up later?" I glanced down at my half- finished essay. Serena had brought colourful pens to class, and I had been amusing myself by writing my essay in rainbow colours. "That means I have to start again! Ugg, I'll never have this done by next class!"

Serena laughed, and Becca smiled sympathetically.

My next class was a huge contrast in comparison to my first. I had Social Studies. Mine was a small class and not the brightest bunch either. There were a few of us who were okay, like myself, Miranda, and Dylann, but mostly it was filled with flunkers. I sat down in my seat with a sigh. Social Studies wasn't my favourite class, but it was okay. I started to unpack my books when a voice to my left made me gasp quietly.

"Is this seat taken?" Edward Cullen was standing beside the desk next to me, a small smile visible on his face. I shook my head slowly, and he sat down.

I was still staring at him, so I figured I should probably voice my half-formed questions.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, greatly confused.

He smirked. "I'm in this class."

"Since when?" I demanded. I was sure I hadn't seen him here last week.

"I've been here since last Friday. You didn't notice because you were too busy chanting for the bell to ring." He answered, laughing quietly.

I blushed. I had been really tired on Friday and all I wanted was the day to pass faster so I could go home and nap.

The class started then, and I tried to pay attention. It was lucky we were only reviewing the geography of Canada, or I could have missed something important. It was very distracting to have Edward staring at me the entire class. The lecture finally ended and the teacher assigned us some questions from the book. I got down to work right away, but Edward seemed to think that distracting me was a better thing to do. I couldn't really disagree.

"So, how was your weekend?" He asked.

I smiled, answering, "Boring, after the interruption by the river last week." I paused for a moment, and then added. "What did you tell your family?"

He frowned. "It was strange. They didn't say anything, or even think anything about it. It's like they're hiding something…" His voice trailed off, confused.

It sounded ominous to me. I was the fragile human variable. I was the one who their secrecy depended on, and I could guess that I wasn't quite trusted yet. I was an obstacle so easily removed.

"They wouldn't dare," Edward said swiftly, responding to the worry in my mind. In my hidden thoughts I noted how he seemed to be reassuring himself more than me.

When the bell finally rang for lunch, Edward waited for me to get my books, and walked with me to the cafeteria. I thought it was strange, because he had ignored me all last week, but I didn't really want to bring that up again. I didn't want him to remember that he was supposed to be ignoring me and walk away again.

"Are you eating with me today?" I asked him, wondering how my friends would react.

"I was actually wondering if you would like to eat with me."

The difference confused me for a moment until I realized he meant _alone_. I blushed, answering with a small nod.

"Your friends won't miss you?" He asked.

"They'll be glad to be rid of me for a while, more likely." I responded, and he laughed.

I noticed then that I was staring at him, and I looked away, seeing for the first time his family in the corner, who probably heard every word he said. Their faces were all identical masks of astonishment. I was instantly confused- what had happened to make them look like that? Edward seemed to notice my confusion, and hurried me out of the cafeteria, taking a quick look back where his family stared after us.

"What was that about?"

Edward seemed reluctant to answer. "They're just surprised, that's all."

My suspicions were heightened. What was that he didn't want to tell me? My secret thoughts were speculating, but my readable thoughts were carefully innocent.

_What surprised them so much? _I thought to him.

He glanced down at me quickly, so quickly I almost didn't notice it. "It was nothing really; they just didn't expect to see me with you again. They were wondering if I had changed my mind, and had decided to go off and kill you anyway." His voice was light and teasing, but I could see the bitterness in his eyes. There was something he wasn't telling me.

"They're bound to realize any minute that it won't work like that now," he added. Then, seeing my confused look, he continued. "Now that I've been seen with you in public, while you're _not_ unconscious-" I blushed at the memory- "means that people know I am hanging out with you. It would _very_ suspicious if you were to suddenly die and then my family left town."

"Well, that's a relief then. No more vampires to worry about killing me in the night." I said sarcastically. We were walking around outside now, and there wasn't anyone around, so I felt it was okay to say the word out loud.

"They wouldn't dare hurt you," he suddenly said, his voice sharp. I glanced up at him, surprised by his protective tone. "I wouldn't ever let them hurt you."

I think the shock on my face was evident, because when he looked down at me, his serious face dissolved into a small smile.

"Did you want to die then?" He enquired, teasing.

"Well, no, of course not." I smiled in response to him. "That would just be silly! I don't know a lot of people who would want to be killed by a vampire!" I added, playing along.

His face immediately into a grimace, and I mentally hit myself on the head with a hammer. Of course his thoughts turned immediately to Bella after that comment. I could see that on his face. Bella went to meet James, to be killed. Bella wanted to be a vampire. Bella died, and Edward couldn't save her. My hidden thoughts processed this all very quickly, and then scrambled for something to lighten the mood.

"Stop that!" Edward's voice broke through my thoughts. "It's not your fault!"

I was confused. _I thought you couldn't hear my hidden thoughts!_ I thought to him, shocked.

"I don't need to hear your thoughts to know what you're thinking. I'm not so blind that I can't read facial expressions." His eyes were still sad, and I still couldn't think of anything to say!

So fast that I almost didn't see it, he stopped and swung around in front of me. He leaned down and took my face in his hands. I had never been this close to him before, and I could smell the sweet fragrance of his breath. It smelled of honey, and some other sweet scent I couldn't identify, but reminded me of lying on a hammock in summertime. I looked into his eyes, and couldn't look away. The depth of them was truly understated in the books. His eyes held mine, and he spoke softly to me.

"Erika, don't. Don't feel guilty, or sad, or ashamed. It's not your fault. What happened to Bella…" Edward's voice faltered, and he started again. "Erika, you must never feel guilty for making me sad. It is only because of you I have moments that I am not. My family, they weren't staring because I was with you, they were staring because I laughed. They haven't heard me laugh, or even seen me smile, in decades."

I stared at him silently for a moment, trying to take that in, while he pulled back and we continued walking around the school. He hadn't smiled in _decades_? I couldn't even go a week without smiling, whether voluntarily or not.

"That doesn't mean I'm not sorry for hurting you," I answered him. Then the next part of the sentence registered in my brain. "What do you mean, 'because of me'? What did I do?"

He laughed. "You've made all the difference that four days with you can make, Erika."

I jumped as the bell rang signalling the end of lunch. It was strange to look around, and see that there were other people in the world. That real life still existed. I felt like I was dreaming. In the thoughts he could see, I didn't think of anything except what class I had now. In my hidden thoughts though, I was thinking about what he had just said. I had, apparently, given him some sort of new life. I shook my head. I was just another one of the billions of people in the world; why did he think I was special? I wasn't sporty, or artistic. I was smart, but that's not special. I'm sure there are a lot of other people in the world smarter than me. What could Edward see in me that could change his attitude?

I had to stifle a gasp when I realized just how serious this might be. Vampires attitudes were set in stone, unless a big change came, which didn't happen often. Edward was changed immensely when he met Bella, and I can guess he changed again when she died. Somehow I managed to change him yet again. This wasn't going to be a passing phase; vampires didn't have serious phases like this pass so quickly. I needed to think about this, to make some sort of decision. I didn't know if I wanted this to happen.

I glanced up at Edward, who was gazing back at me, and looked down quickly, blushing. This wasn't the place to have possibly life-changing decisions. I would have to wait until I was alone for that. I wouldn't want anything to slip out, and be heard by him.

* * *

My homework was done, my parents were both downstairs, and I decided it was time to think about my options.

So Edward thought something of me. I didn't know what it was yet, but it was something. Was it something I wanted? I wasn't sure. I know that with obsessions, if a person were asked if they would want one of the characters they love to appear and join their life, they would say yes, and probably scream. I would too, if it were a joke.

This was different. If I said yes, I would plunge into a world from which there would be no easy escape, and unlike Bella, I did not want to be a vampire. You got to be perfect, yes, but you lose all you family, and friends. You have to go through the painful transformation, and the year-long newborn stage. After all that, you are perfect for modeling, or sports, of acting, or anything else, but you cannot show off your skills to the world. You cannot expose yourself. Not that you'd want to, with the Volturi to worry about. So I was pretty sure I didn't want to be a vampire. Was there a way I could be friends with Edward without it turning to that though? I didn't want to die young, or be a vampire. What other option was there?

What about my family's safety? I didn't want a 'James problem' like Bella had. How much could I tell them? Should they know that I've been hanging out with Edward? I wasn't sure how much of a problem my blood was for him, but there had to be some risk, didn't there?

There was another problem. Bodily harm seemed to be quite common when one is around vampires a lot. I'd rather not die of blood loss. The Cullens would feel so horrible after that, not to mention that I would be dead. Like I thought before- I'd rather not die.

Another thing—would Edward leave even if I asked him to? I changed him; that was certain. He still had painful moments, moments when he wasn't himself, but it was getting less and less frequent. I didn't know he _could_ leave anymore. It was a nice thought to think he needed me, though completely unrealistic.

Maybe I was reading into this too much. For all I knew, his family was starting to get on his nerves. That didn't seem very likely, but it was possible.

So what to do then? I didn't think I had much a choice. I knew that I wouldn't be able to ignore him, and he would probably start stalking me all the time. I glanced over to my window. He had already been through there once, had he been through since? I didn't know if he was out there now, but if he was, he would probably have jumped through the window in reaction to something I had thought by now. So I was okay.

I could be friends with him, give him that much. I would never be more, never. I could see it now, now that I really thought about it. I loved him. I knew that much already. I also knew that I could never be with him. We would never be meant for each other. He was made for Bella; she was his other half of the puzzle, the meteor across his night sky. She lit up his life like I never could. She was his first love, his true love. There was no way I could compete with that; no way would I want to. Why would I try to do better than someone who had done best? I could not desecrate her memory like that. I did not want to force him to love me, because that would only make him unhappy, which was the last thing I wanted. I could not replace true love, no matter how much I loved him. It was a love triangle, and I was destined to be odd girl out.

I understand Jacob Black's point of view better than ever now. I was just like him. Bella and Edward would always be together. Just like Jacob, I was destined to lose out; no way to win. This was how it was always meant to be. So I would be happy with what I got, and be friends with Edward, and never hope for more.

Even with only that, I knew my life was going to be changing in the near future, and I wasn't sure how.

* * *

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. Warm fuzzies are the greatest things on earth!

I'll try to get chapter 6 up next weekend. Maybe sooner if I get tons of reviews... (hint, hint)

Again, check out my profile for information on my stories, updates, and previews to upcoming chapters.

I think that's it for announcements, unless I forgot to thank everyone who reviewed?

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	6. The Jealousy Effect

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. I still wish I did.

A/N: Sorry for the delay! My computer was messing up so I couldn't post this last night like I meant to.

**Dedication:  
This chapter goes out to Chlavisfan4ever, because I know she needs something to cheer her up after the season finale of Smallville.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Jealousy Effect

I was ready for the next day. I met Edward before school began, and we sat at a table in the library, just talking. It was easier when I was paying attention not to hurt him. We talked about our interests, and school, and gossiped about people at our school. I soon knew who was secretly dating who, mostly because he could always read someone's mind and check. There were no secrets that Edward wasn't aware of. So he talked about the school's gossip, and I talked about the parts of my life he didn't know about yet until the bell rang, interrupting the conversation.

My English class passed quickly, and I hurried to my Social Studies class. We continued our truncated conversation after the teacher finished his lecture. It was another class where I was going to have homework in, because unfortunately for my schoolwork, Edward was just too distracting.

When the bell rang for lunch, Edward walked me to my locker to get my lunch.

"Would you like to eat with me again today?" He asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to eat with my family."

I pulled in a shocked breath. His family really _was_ intimidating. I didn't know if I was ready for that yet. I wasn't sure what they thought of me either.

"I… I think that's going a bit fast. I don't quite know if I'm ready for that yet…" I didn't want to offend him, but his family was way too freaky for me to accept.

He hurried to reassure me. "No, no it's okay. I know what you mean. Maybe another day."

That day we ate walking around inside the school, because it was colder outside than the day before. The day passed quickly after lunch, and he even walked me home after school. My parents were still working, so they didn't see him there. He left after saying goodbye, and was gone.

So a pattern started. Every morning I would spend socializing with human friends. I had Social Studies with Edward, and then he walked me to my locker. He would ask me if I wanted to eat with his family, and I would refuse, still not feeling up to it. He still asked though, politely. After school he would walk me home, carrying my backpack for me. I told him not to bother to carry it, I was fine, because I didn't want it to feel like I was using him, but he insisted that it was no problem for him. When we reached my house, he would hand over my pack and say goodbye before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

I was pretty proud of myself. I was trying hard not to hurt him, and by the end of the week, he was barely flinching at all. I figured that some pain was unavoidable, but it was an excellent start. This pattern continued for almost a month before something changed.

* * *

The day had started out as usual. I had hung out with my friends in the morning, and then Edward had met me in Socials. We were walking back to my locker, and I saw Luke at his locker, which was pretty much across the hall from mine. I was friends with Luke mostly in summertime, and it still seemed strange to me that he never spoke to me during the school year. He was one of those people you just _notice _for no particular reason. If he happened to walk by, I usually noticed. If he was in any my classes, I saw him. It didn't help that he was my best friend's cousin, so I heard her talk about him sometimes.

It surprised me that day when I walked by him while he was at my locker, he looked up, and I caught his eye. We never really acknowledged each other's presence, so it always caught me unawares when we did. Today he looked up, but I couldn't quite fathom what was in his eyes. I continued to walk by, looking behind me to keep eye contact. I only looked away when I noticed in my peripheral vision that I was at my locker. I flushed a little bit as I opened my locker, thinking as I always did when he looked at me.

Why? Why did he ignore me all school year, but was fine during summer? I never quite understood. At first I thought he was being rude on purpose, trying to tell me that he didn't like me. I was full on prepared to ignore him all summer, but when it came to it, that summer was just like all the rest. I knew that the first year of high school changed people, so I thought that maybe he was just 'finding himself' and now everything would be back to normal. Apparently though, that wasn't the case. So why on _earth_ was he ignoring me?!

"Are you going to get anything from your locker, or are you just going to stare into it some more?" A quiet, velvet voice interrupted my thoughts. Edward was standing next to me still, waiting for me to put away my books and get my lunch. I realized that I'd been standing there absentmindedly for a minute or so.

"You know the answer to that better than I do," I replied, but grabbed my lunch and shut my locker anyway. Why had Edward interrupted like that? It wasn't like him. Usually when I started pondering about something, he pondered with me, or took a look into the other person's mind to tell me the answer. He never just abruptly changed the answer.

"Would you like to join my family for lunch today?" Edward asked, as he did every lunch hour. Usually I answered no, but I was feeling up to it today. I had decided last night that I should stop being such a coward and just do it. Nobody was going to bite me… Edward wouldn't let them.

Edward was already smiling when I replied, "Sure," but I said it anyway. I could at least _pretend_ that I had a normal friend who couldn't read my thoughts.

I took a deep breath before I walked into the cafeteria. I was really nervous, but tried my best to calm down. It probably wouldn't be best to make Jasper feel nervous too. Doubt of self-control was the last thing I needed now.

Edward, catching my thought, laughed. "Don't worry Erika, it will be fine. Alice saw you coming last night, and she warned everybody."

"If you already knew, why did you ask?"

"If I didn't ask, then you wouldn't have answered yes, and we would be eating at the bottom of the stairs by the cross halls," he replied, still chuckling.

Eww. I guess it was a good thing I was eating in the cafeteria today. You don't know what people have done at the bottom of those stairs; it made me blush to think about how Edward and I might have ended up there.

"You're sure it's okay?" I asked timidly.

"Really, it'll be fine. You can sit beside me, if it would make you feel better."\

"It would, thanks."

We walked into the cafeteria, and my eyes immediately zeroed in on the Cullen's table. It was the same spot where I had first saw them, except this time one of them was standing beside me. There were only four at the table. They were all looking our way, and I looked down, embarrassed. Alice had looked like she wanted to jump out of her seat and jump around the room, she was so excited. Jasper was watching my every move with guarded eyes, making sure I didn't surprise him, I guess. Emmett was grinning in anticipation, and Rosalie was on the other side of him, looking as wary as Jasper, but for what I hoped were different reasons. I didn't really want two of the Cullens trying not to kill me- one was enough.

Edward was still snickering at my contemplation when we reached the table. He sat down fluidly, motioning for me to sit beside him. I sat down, looking around. I was sitting beside Edward, and Alice and Jasper were next to him. Rosalie and Emmett sat across from me, Emmett sliding closer to where I was. Three things seemed to happen almost simultaneously- I started to hyperventilate a little because Emmett was _scary_, I felt a wave of calm wash over me, presumably from Jasper, and Alice suddenly was sitting on my other side.

I flinched into Edward for a second when I saw Alice, but it was more reflexes than being afraid- she appeared so suddenly! She was grinning from ear to ear, but I couldn't imagine what she was thinking. Not that I needed to, because she started talking at hyper speed almost as I saw her.

"Hi Erika! Wow, it's great to finally meet you! Well, I guess, to meet you again. We met you last week, remember? When you fainted, speaking of which, I'm still wondering what's up with that. Edward hasn't told us barely anything. He's told us all about you of course, and apparently you know all about us, though I don't know how much you could possibly glean from a book, then again you do learn a lot about human characters in general from reading about their thoughts and actions in books. I don't know it that really applies to us, considering we aren't human…" Her voice trailed off for a second, her face going blank. The next second she was back and babbling again. "Oh yay! A sleepover party! Oh, I'm so excited, you're going to love to see the rest of our house, and maybe we can go shopping, and definitely a mani and pedi for you, you need it. Then we can watch some movies, you won't have a lot of homework this weekend either, so we can have lots of fun!"

Her voice finally stopped, presumably to let me have a chance to share in her ecstasy. I sat there shocked for a moment, trying to absorb that. A moment too late, I hesitantly answered her.

"So, we're going to have a sleepover this weekend?"

"Yes!" She replied, bouncing in her seat.

I turned slowly to see their reaction to what Alice had said. Rosalie was staring down into her untouched food, her expression unreadable. Jasper looked the same as always, a calm mask over his face. Emmett looked like he was waiting for me to faint again, ready to start laughing at me. Edward was watching me with alarmed eyes, trying to see a hint of panic in my eyes, ready to defend me from his possibly overwhelming family.

A smile spread mischievously across my face, and I turned back to Alice. _Watch this,_ I thought to Edward, as I took a breath, and began.

"That's so exciting! I would love to go shopping. I know a great place too. I would _love_ to go to Forever 21 in Edmonton, I know it's far away, but I heard it's the only one in Canada, unless they build that one in Toronto, I'm not sure about that though. Also, I'm sure you could get there way faster because you drive so fast! We could have so much fun on a sleepover though! I totally agree, I'm way overdue for a mani and pedi. I know some great movies we can watch too, I have a huge list of movies I'm way overdue to see. And I can get a lot, from a book, thank you very much. Have you even read the books? Wow, I guess that would be awkward. Imagine reading about yourself, as written by somebody else. I think it might actually be interesting, too see yourself how others see you. I mean, I know who I am and all, but I really have no idea what others think of me. I guess only Edward would know! By the way, are you sure I won't have tons of homework this weekend? That would be so nice, the homework load has been over the top the last few weeks. It'll be nice to have a break. It'll be so fun! Now you made me all excited for this weekend; I can't wait!"

I smiled widely when I was finished. Alice was still excited and bouncing, and I would imagine she was thrilled to have a new shopping partner. I turned around quickly to see the rest of the Cullen's faces before they could compose themselves. There were four, identical masks of shock there, though I could see that Edward's face was quickly fading into amusement. Emmett though, was the first to break the silence.

"Whoa, Alice it looks like you have some competition. That girl can talk just as much as you can!" He snickered.

Everyone except Rosalie laughed. I noticed that she didn't, and a small worry registered in the back of my mind. Did Rosalie not approve of me, just like she hadn't for Bella? I quickly pushed the worry aside though; I was too busy making some new friends. Alice was really fun. Usually my hyperactivity freaked people out, but Alice was one of those rare people who could keep up, and test my limits as well. I guess it helped that she was a vampire with unlimited energy, whereas I had to wake up to get to school today, and I was _not_ a morning person.

Talking with them was easy, really. I tried to keep my eyes off Emmett a bit, because he really was scary-looking, especially up close. The plans for Alice's sleepover were quickly laid out, but we did have some troubles deciding where to shop. There were only so many places you could visit in one night, after all.

When the bell rang, we all got up together, but left separately, each going to our own classes. Edward and I seemed to realize at the same time that I was too busy talking to eat anything. He seemed worried, but I shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it. My next class is pretty relaxed. My teacher will let me eat. I can just say I had a meeting or something. It doesn't really matter. Go to your class. I'll see you after school." He still walked me to my locker, regardless.

It was as we were walking home that he brought up the subject. I was surprised he remembered actually.

"So, what's up with you and Luke?"

I was confused before I remembered his strange actions at the beginning of lunch. I had almost forgotten. I shrugged.

"Nothing really; he's my best friend's cousin, so I met him when I was little, during the summer. We all hung out together during the last couple of summers. He hasn't talked to me during the school year, and it bugs me a little, because I have no idea what to make of it. It doesn't matter anyway; I know he's a jerk." I rolled my eyes. "An old friend that's all. Not really much anymore."

Edward was silent for a moment before changing the subject. I was surprised again by his actions. I expected him to explain what was going on, or why he asked, but he seemed to want to let the subject drop. Come to think of it, I had no idea what to make of his behaviour _or_ Luke's. I hoped that he wasn't going to start taking tips from Luke and start ignoring me, again.

"You're blocking me again," Edward interrupted my thoughts, and he sounded a little annoyed, though I could tell he wasn't really mad.

"Well I'm certainly not going to show you everything that's going on in my mind right away. That wouldn't be the best idea."

He seemed confused. "Why not?"

I sighed. "Let's face Edward. I've known you for what, a month? I don't even tell what's going on in my mind to my family. Not all of it anyway. Plus… well, never mind. The point is, sometimes I want to keep my thoughts to myself."

"Plus what?"

I knew he wouldn't give up! I should have never let that slip. I wasn't going to show him my mind, because it would make him leave. I didn't want to show him how truly fascinated I was with him. I didn't want to tell him how sometimes I wanted to reach out and touch his face, just as he had a month ago while he was trying to reassure me that it wasn't my fault. I didn't want to show him the dreams I thought of sometimes during the monotonous day, in which he always starred. I didn't want to scare him off. Or disgust him for that matter. My mind wasn't crystal clean, I _was_ a teenager. I don't know how Bella kept her thoughts so clean during the book, but I guess she _was_ amazingly mature. I was just a regular teenager, and no teenager wants their crush to know what they're secretly fantasizing about. It would be way too awkward.

"Plus nothing," I paused. "Hey did you get that assignment for Socials done yet? I think I'm going to have to re-edit some paragraphs. It isn't one of my best pieces of writing."

He frowned at my quick change of subject, but answered the question, and the conversation flowed normally from there.

Two things had come out of it though. I knew he was hiding something from me, because he wasn't acting normal. It was almost as if he was jealous of Luke for a minute there, but that wasn't possible. What could he possibly be jealous of? I couldn't say anything though, because he knew that I was hiding something from him too. I didn't quite know what to do about our situation. I didn't like hiding things from him, and I didn't like that he was hiding things from me. All the same, how could we fix that?

If there was one thing I couldn't say to him, it was that I was in love with him.

* * *

Drama is building!! You can probably guess what's going to happen in the next chapter, but you can still check out my profile for the sneak preview if you want. Also there are (sometimes) daily updates, and information on my stories: past, present, and future.

Again, to Chlavisfan4ever: OME the season finale!!! OME I hope you watched it! OME, OME, OME!! === she knows what I'm talking about.

I'm thinking about updating once a week, so the next chapter will (hopefully) be up next week. I'm almost done writing it, and so I might post faster later on if I get enough reviews.

School is ending in about a month, so a couple of things: first, I'm going to have a lot more homework, and less time to write. Second, I need to get this story done before school ends because, three: I don't have access to a computer in summertime. I have a trailer on a lake I go to, and there's no computer. If I do get access, it will be few and far between. So I won't be posting anything during the summer. I'll probably keep writing though!!

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	7. Girl's Night

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**Mending Hearts**

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Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wait! I own the colour blue! *Crayola comes and wacks me on the head with a crayon* Okay, fine! I own nothing.

**Dedication:  
This chapter goes out to two people: ElloStargazer and Da-Jelly-Fish. You two have reviewed every chapter so far! Way to go!  
**

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Chapter 7: Girl's Night

The rest of the week passed quickly. I ate lunch with the Cullens every day now, though most of the time was spent making plans with Alice for the weekend, rather than eating. Edward expressed concern for my nutrition, but I assured him that it really was no problem, and my teacher really didn't mind it when I ate in class.

I didn't really talk Emmett, Jasper or Rosalie much, if at all. Jasper seemed quiet and content to just listen to Alice talk. Emmett still freaked me out, but he got a word in edgewise, sometimes. I never spoke a word to Rosalie at all. It wasn't that I didn't like her, but I thought she might have felt that way about me. She never greeted me when I joined them, and I was too afraid to make the first move.

So mostly I talked to Edward and Alice. I got permission from my parents right away for the sleepover, and Alice was ecstatic when she heard the news.

"You must have known this was coming though," I explained to her, as she bounced in her seat. "Didn't you see the answer already?"

"Of course I did!" She would have been offended if she wasn't so excited. "But it doesn't make it any less surprising!"

I stared at her incredulously for a moment, and resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow.

I had to admit to myself, I was nervous about the sleepover. I would be staying overnight at a house where I would be the only one who slept, used the washroom, or ate something other than the local wildlife. I was more than a little self-conscious. I would be meeting Esme and Carlisle for the first time, if you didn't count when I was being held prisoner in their house the last time I was there. It's not like we were introduced then.

Edward noticed my worry when it slipped through the barriers of my mind. He was always quick to reassure me when this happened.

"Erika, I promise, it will be fine. Carlisle and Esme will love you. Please stop worrying about it," sometimes when he said that, it seemed like Alice wasn't the only one who was excited for my visit.

Saturday finally came. I knew that Alice was going to be picking me up from my house around 11 am, so I had to set my alarm. I usually slept in until noon on the weekends, but I wanted to have a shower first, and maybe finish packing.

Alice was picking me up because Edward and the rest of the boys were apparently going to be hunting. I watched her drive up with a huge smile on her face. I was more than a little suspicious that she had something to do with the boys' banishment. It was definitely going to be a girl's night.

After I got in the car with my bag, she sped off, driving at about 100 km/hr. This might have not bothered me, but I could see we were still in a residential area; I could see buildings flashing past. I decided that I shouldn't look out the window- the quick flash of colours was going to make me sick. I looked around Alice's car; I didn't know cars very well, but I could hers was very expensive.

"You like it?" Alice asked, noticing my preoccupation. "It's only a few years old!" She beamed, sweeping over the dash lovingly.

"It's very fast," I noted, hazarding a glance at the speedometer. We were out of town now, and the needle on the speedometer had gone up about 40 km. "What happened to your Porsche?" I asked, curiosity overpowering my respect of her privacy.

She sighed. "I still have it of course. I can't drive it as much anymore though." She glanced at my puzzled expression and continued. "It's very conspicuous. We still have to be careful, just in case somebody recognizes us." She frowned, clearly thinking the same thing I was. I had recognized them, and she was probably wondering if there were others who would too.

After a moment, she sighed. "I suppose I won't be able to drive it for _another_ decade now."

"Why?"

"Carlisle will want me to be _very_ careful, so nobody recognizes us. It's really unlikely—you're the first person to recognize us in almost half a century—but he'll still be very cautious about doing _anything_ conspicuous now."

I looked down, guilt rising in me. "Sorry," my voice was quiet, but she heard it.

"What?" Alice was confused.

"For intruding on your lives. For making you even more stressed. For stopping you from driving your Porsche. If I hadn't recognized you, you could be driving it right now."

"But then I wouldn't be having a sleepover with you. And I wouldn't be picking out the perfect colours for your nails that would match the perfect outfit you're going to get today. Rose is going to do your nails, she's really good at that, and then Esme can do your hair—"

"Wait," I interrupted her, a small flock of butterflies filling my stomach. "Rose is going to be there? And Esme?"

"Of course!" It _is_ girl's night."

I bit my lip and glanced out the window anxiously. I didn't know how close we were to their house, or whether Rosalie or Esme could hear me yet. Alice, being the very perceptive vampire that she is, noticed my worry right away. She seemed to see the questions bubbling under my skin, and pulled over to the side of the road. We were out of town now, and there weren't any cars on the road.

"Nobody can hear us right now." Alice said; an invitation for me to start.

"It's… well—" I hesitated for a moment. "Edward doesn't tell me much about the rest of you."

"You already know our stories, and what we're like."

"Yes but…" I exhaled. "Whenever I ask him about it, he changes the subject quickly, or says something like, 'Oh, don't worry about it, Erika.'"

"You want to know why he's avoiding the question," Alice said, nodding.

"No, not really. It's probably something like he doesn't want to scare me away, or he doesn't feel comfortable betraying his family's confidence. I just want to know… how everyone actually feels."

"Oh," said Alice, pausing for a second, thinking. I saw a blank look cross her face for a moment, but I didn't ask about it.

"I suppose that's all right," she said. "I don't see anything wrong with that." I guess I got my answer as to what she just saw.

"So," I started, jumping right into it. "Does Rosalie hate me?"

Alice laughed. "No, she doesn't mind you much at all, really."

"But she never speaks to me at lunch." I pointed out.

"Well, first of all, nobody does, because between you and me, they can't get a word in edgewise. Second, she was probably waiting for this… quieter weekend to formally introduce herself. Third, she respects you. Don't look so shocked—it's true. She respects that you've considered both the pros and the cons about being a vampire and chose to stay human."

"She knows about that?"

"We all do. It's one of the very few things Edward told us about you. Speaking of which, I don't think you'll be the only one fishing for answers tonight. Esme can't wait to interrogate you and find out more about… who you are. She's euphoric."

"She's met me before."

"I don't think the fainting incident counts."

I thought for a moment, and decided to cross that bridge when I came to it. This would be pretty soon, unless I kept questioning Alice.

"What about Jasper, and Emmett?"

"Well, I'm sure you know Emmett enough by now to realize he doesn't much care either way. If there's going to be a human around, so be it. He's happier than he admits though. He thinks it's boring without a human to prank—their much more fun than vampires, because they can't hear him coming."

"So if he hasn't admitted it, how do you know?"

"Edward warned us all."

"About what in particular?" Not seeing the danger of Emmett liking me.

"This is Emmett we're talking about. You're going to be pranked until kingdom come. Thankfully for you, we're all watching him. You don't have to worry… much. Still, watch it around him." She laughed, and I joined in a moment later.

"Jasper?"

"Well, truthfully, he's wondering about how this will impact our family. He wants to know how it's going to play out. This won't work forever, and he's wondering the outcome. Other than that though, he's fine with it. He's been warned to keep a distance, and so on, so he doesn't eat you or anything. And as long as I keep telling him everything will be all right, he won't worry."

"Alice?" I said in a small voice.

"Yes?"

"_Will_ everything be all right?"

She hesitated. "I… don't know." She glanced at my worried face. "I haven't seen anything, is what I mean. And no news is good news, right?"

"Yea…" My voice trailed off. "How can you not see?"

"Something hasn't been decided yet. I don't know what though…"

"Oh." What else could I say to that? I figured that I would find out what the decision was sooner or later. There was one person I was still wondering about.

"What about Carlisle?"

"He's also worried about what will happen if it doesn't work out, for different reason than Jasper's though. Jasper is worried about exposure, and Carlisle is worried about Edward."

I didn't have to voice my confusion; Alice was very quick to pick up on it. "You've helped him so much," She said. "You haven't seen the changes we've seen; he's finally healing. Carlisle isn't sure if he could handle another loss. He might not need the Volturi next time to… die."

"What?"

"Well, we're obviously not sure; that's why this relationship is so much more dangerous. We've heard of vampires who lose their soul mates, and they survive. Unless they do something stupid to get them killed of course. We're not sure if vampires could handle more pain though. Just thinking about losing him…" I'm pretty sure she was thinking about Jasper when she said that, not Edward. Her eyes were far away for a moment. "I can't even imagine what it would be like… to lose two soul mates."

Her words came out so casually, so assuredly; like it was just another accepted fact of life. How could she say something like that though? My brain was in shock. It rejected the idea; it was much too illogical.

"Wh-what?" I finally squeaked. I couldn't be his _soul mate_, that's what Bella was. I was just a very good friend, that's all. She had it wrong!

"Never mind, Erika," She said, seeing the look on my face. "Let's not worry about the future tonight. Its girl's night! No boys allowed, remember? That includes inside your head. Get them out, now!"

I tried a half-hearted smile, but it didn't work as well as it was supposed to. It quickly faded from my face. "Alice, you can't just dump something like that on me and expect me to go as normal!"

"Sorry," Alice said, not sounding sorry at all. "But I meant that thing about no boys allowed. They're getting nowhere near us tonight; extended hunting trip."

"Really?" I was suddenly ecstatic." Oh thank god!"

Alice started to drive the car again as she responded, "You're going to have to explain that line to me. I thought you'd be upset without Edward around."

"Simple, really. I can control my thoughts around him for the most part, but that takes effort. If I'm sleeping or tired though… well, I don't have any control then, and there are some things I'd rather Edward not know." Like how much I wished that he really _was_ my soul mate; and how I dreamed of him, every night…

"Good point. I'm glad I've made your first stay at _Chez Cullen_ that much more enjoyable." She said, and we both laughed.

"I'm more relieved than you think. I was wondering whether it would be better to just not sleep at all—not the best option in my case. I get really grumpy when I'm tired, and I'm not the nicest person then. I wouldn't want to offend a vampire."

"This coming from the girl who tried to negotiate with them during her first encounter."

"Curiosity knows no bounds."

"I believe the song goes, 'love knows no bounds.'"

"You say it your way, I'll say it mine," I laughed. We pulled up to their house then, and the festives began.

* * *

Note to self: When shopping with Alice, caffeine is my best friend. It was all worth it of course, but saying that I was exhausted would be a gross understatement. Alice dragged me all over the place—sometimes I didn't even know what town we were in.

I found a lot of nice outfits, and most of them were casual enough to wear to school. There were a couple that I would have to save for special occasions, especially one dress that would be suitable for grad. Alice wouldn't let me leave the store without it.

Now I was relaxing on their couch, while the tireless vampire girls worked over my nails. I hadn't looked at the colour yet, but I was sure it would be gorgeous. To think anything less would be an insult to Alice.

There was some scattered conversation; discussing something or other about my nails I supposed. Their words were too quick for me to catch what they were saying.

Alice and Esme were working over my feet, while Rosalie was painting my fingernails. I turned my head to see what colour was going to be adorning my fingertips. I was a shade of forest green, the same colour as that dress Alice _needed_ to buy for me.

"You like it?" Rosalie asked me, holding my hand up for approval.

"Yeah, it's nice."

"I guess I haven't formally introduced myself yet. I'm Rosalie," she said with a smile. At my feet, I noticed that Alice and Esme were engaged in their own conversation, presumably to give me and Rosalie privacy with our introductions.

"I know," I said, also smiling. "I'm Erika."

"I know." We both laughed a little.

"So what was the point of that then?"

Rosalie shrugged. "Just wanted to start off on good terms, I suppose."

"Well then, I'm glad we're friends, Rosalie."

"You can call me Rose."

"Okay… Rose. Umm… no offence or anything, I mean I'm glad you like me and everything, but why was that so important to establish? Did you assume I thought differently?"

"Did you?"

"Well…" I hesitated, and then decided it would be better to tell the truth. "Yes, I did."

"And why did you think that?" Her voice wasn't angry or offended. It was more like she was trying to let me see the answer for myself. When I didn't answer, she continued, "I'll tell you why. It's because of what _she_ thought of me, right? She didn't like me, I didn't like her, and those… _books_ reflected that." Her voice was angry now, but I didn't think her anger was directed at me.

Alice and Esme had looked up at the first mention of Bella. Esme now intervened, trying to calm Rose down.

"Rose, you know that Stephenie never wanted to offend us."

"But she ruined our lives. We've had to hide in our own homes for almost a century!"

"She made a mistake. We all make mistakes, Rose."

Rose didn't look appeased.

"At least we don't have to hide out anymore," Alice chimed in.

"We still don't get to stay in one place for more than a year. I'm tired of moving around so much. I wish Carlisle wasn't so paranoid. I think it's been long enough." Rose retorted.

"Carlisle doesn't seem like the paranoid type to me," I said, after a silent moment. "He's usually pretty trusting. Why the change?"

They all exchanged a look, and I had the feeling this was the wrong question to ask.

"Usually he trusts Edward to watch out for us," Esme began. "Alice catches the big things, but Edward gives us plenty of warning before that happens."

I almost didn't want to ask what had changed, but I seemed to have some sort of morbid curiosity.

"And now?" I whispered to Esme, though I knew the others could hear. "Edward… there were a lot of close calls. He wouldn't notice. He doesn't care for others thoughts. I… I think he's scared to… to find—" Esme's voice faltered for a moment. "To find someone who will remind him of _her_."

"That's how you managed to sneak up on us, in the beginning." Alice's voice cut in. "Usually, Edward would have noticed you, and given us some warning."

"Maybe… maybe we could talk to Carlisle. Edward seems a little better. Maybe Carlisle will agree with you, Rose. He seems to be tired of moving as well." Esme said.

"Esme, you should know he's more than a little better," said Alice.

"But can it last?" Esme whispered, almost to herself.

Everyone went silent for a few minutes. None of us were sure of the answer to Esme's question.

Rose broke the silence finally, and her words surprised me.

"Thanks you, Erika," she said her voice feverent. "Thank you for helping him. I may not like him very much, but life's much more fun without him moping around all the time."

Um, you're welcome, I guess. I'm glad I could help." I said, blushing a little.

"It's amazing, the change in him," Esme said. "The first time these kids told me that they had seen him smiling, I didn't believe it. Not until I saw it myself. He's so much more… alive, since he met you. He's more himself."

"Yes, he is. It's getting easier and easier to distract him from his… depressions."

Alice laughed. "We're actually surprised you can do that at all. We couldn't do that, most times."

"I'm just glad he's better" I said. "I don't think I would be able to stand it if any of you were… like him."

"Well, I think that's enough of depressing topics for tonight." Alice suddenly said. "How about you tell me which earrings you like best?"

The rest of the night passed quickly after that. They finished up my nails and we watched some movies. Gossip about people at our school took up most of the conversations, but I also heard some stories of the antics they boys, especially Emmett, got up to. Pretty soon it was late, and I was getting tired. My yawns were becoming more and more frequent.

Esme, who was cleaning the dishes from my dinner, walked out of the kitchen just as a particularly big yawn escaped me.

"Alice, Rose! Humans _do_ have to sleep at night. What are you doing, keeping her up so late?"

"Oh right. Sorry Mom," Alice answered her, before turning to me. "Ready to turn in?"

"I suppose," I yawned. "Um, where am I sleeping?"

Alice and Rose exchanged a secretive glance that worried me, before Rose said, "Where do _you_ want to sleep, Erika?"

Well, this just wasn't fair. How was I supposed to choose? My options were very limited. I figured that they probably didn't have a guest bedroom, because they never had guests. I also didn't want to invade on any of the couples' rooms. That might be seen as rude. I was left with the choice of Edward's room, or the couch. It would definitely be exciting to sleep in Edward's room, but I hadn't asked permission to invade his personal space. I couldn't think that he wouldn't know either. He would smell my scent in there. So I was pretty much stuck with the couch option.

I glanced over to it as I spoke. "The couch would be fine," I said.

Alice and Rose smiled at the same time. Strange, ominous smiles.

"Wrong answer, Erika." Rose said.

"You're going to be sleeping in Edward's room," chirped Alice.

"What? No, I shouldn't barge in on his personal space like that. It would be rude to not ask first. The couch is fine, really."

"No, no, Erika. We wouldn't want our guest to be uncomfortable. And Edward has that lovely big bed sitting in there. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"But—"

"No buts. We already have it all set up for you and everything. I think it would be offensive if you refused, right Alice?"

"Yes it would. Come along now," said Alice, starting to pull me towards the stairs. Ignoring my protests, they escorted me to Edward's room.

His room was different than I expected. The first thing I noticed was the huge bed off to the left of the room. The second thing I noticed was that it was… unnaturally clean. There were a few things starting to be scattered around, but it still looked as if nobody had lived there for a long time. It made me feel uneasy. _It's like he didn't even exist,_ I thought.

Music covered the entire right wall, and in the right corner farthest from the door, an expensive-looking music player. It looked like there was a lot of dust on it.

A large window covered most of the wall next to the bed. Directly in from of me were some low shelves with knick knacks that looked like they were collected over the last 2 centuries. The walls and the bedspread matched, and were patterned with a creamy white and blue. With a jolt, I realized who this colour scheme represented.

_Bella_. That was how he thought Bella's skin looked with her blue blouse. Like fresh cream. Now, it was the colour of his walls.

My protests forgotten, I could only stare. I could feel the emotion in the room—this was his sanctuary. The one place Bella still existed.

"Come on, I put your stuff on the bed!" Alice said, pulling me across the room.

"I—I can't Alice. I shouldn't be here!"

"Its fine, I'm sure he won't care if you sleep here _one_ night. Even he's not that uptight."

"That's not what I mean, Alice! I shouldn't be here, because I shouldn't be in his life. Don't you see it? Bella still exists here. This is _their_ room. There's no place for me here; I'm an impostor. And what if he comes back, and having a human scent in his room reminds him too much of her?"

"He's reminded of her every time he enters this room; you said that yourself."

"I still shouldn't be here like this. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be Bella and Edward, forever. She shouldn't have died, Stephenie shouldn't have written books about them, and I should have had a boring high school experience, maybe dated a couple of guys, and move along with my life. I shouldn't _be _here!" My voice was getting more and more panicky, and I vaguely noticed that everyone had left the room except for Alice. The only other thing I could see was the colours. They were telling me things I knew, but never wanted to face.

I had fooled myself into thinking that everything was fine. That Edward would always be there for me, like I wanted to be for him. I had abandoned reason for the dream-like state I was in whenever he was around. I had forgotten what I always knew would be true. It would always be Bella and Edward, forever, and nothing would ever change that. No matter how much I wished, it could never be.

"Erika," Alice said quietly. "I know what you mean. Sometimes, life does that. It may have seemed like they were untouchable, and nothing would ever happen to them, but unlike what Stephenie thinks, this isn't a book. And sometimes the main characters don't live happily ever after. In real life, the world doesn't revolve around one person's adventures. Everyone has their part in the world, the meaning of their life, and once it's fulfilled, they have no reason to be on the earth, whether they want to be or not. I know it's horrible that this happened, but we can't change it now. All the hoping and praying in the world won't change the fact that she's dead. The only thing we can do right now is to do the best we can to make sure Edward doesn't leave this earth before _his_ destiny is fulfilled."

I had never thought Alice to be the spiritual type, but what she was saying made sense to me. I _couldn't_ change facts, though I tried to deny them.

"I just feel like…" I hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words. "I feel like it would be selfish, to take Edward, when he belongs to another."

"The other person he belongs to can't have him now. He needs somebody to help him move on, to be himself again. He _needs_ you, Erika, whether or not you agree."

I turned to her and looked into her eyes, seeing the sincerity there. I could also see the sadness she felt, as much as she tried to hide it. She wanted Edward back to; she loved him like a sister, though they weren't related.

"Thank you, Alice." I said softly, and I hugged her. She was smiling again.

"I think you must be _very_ tired to be so dramatic. How about the little human goes to bed now?"

"Kay. Goodnight!" I started for the bed to get my stuff, deliberately ignoring the colours.

"'Night, Erika." Alice said, before leaving.

I would have thought it would take me forever to fall asleep after that, but I was _really_ tired. I was asleep a few moments after my head hit the pillow.

* * *

Wow that was a long chapter! So, here's a big warning: There are going to be **12 CHAPTERS**. There isn't going to be a sequel either, so please don't ask for one.

I'll try to get the next chapter up faster, I promise!

**MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 9 DAYS! I'M TURNING 16! YAY!**

lol *;P

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	8. Princess

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Dedication:  
This chapter goes out to JassieCake. Just because I think it would be cute to see you two dancing with each other (hint, hint).  
Special Second Dedication: To any girl who wants to be a Princess.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Princess

Something was poking my arm. I considered turning around and seeing what it was, but I was sleeping, and the bed was very comfortable. My bed definitely wasn't this comfortable.

The thing poked me again.

Wait a minute, my bed _wasn't_ this comfortable. So where was I?

I bolted upright and nearly screamed, seeing a figure next to the bed I was in.

"Whoa, Erika. Don't have a heart attack." My vision focused then, and I identified the person standing next to me as Alice. I blushed a little, remembering where I was.

"Alice! What are you doing?"

"Waking you up."

"What time is it?"

"It is 10 of the clock, and time for you to get up, sleepyhead!"

I groaned. I was more of an afternoon person. "Alice, can't I sleep in for another couple of hours?" I said, falling back onto the bed.

She rolled her eyes. "Not after I went through all this trouble to wake you up. Now come on! Here, put this on." Something soft landed on my stomach.

"No, I'm sleeping." I said, and closed my eyes.

"Now this won't do." I felt her move closer to the bed, and then an ice cold hand touched the back of my neck.

"Alice!" I shouted, wide awake now. "Don't _do_ that!"

"You're awake now, right?"

"Yes! That wasn't necessary!"

Alice ignored me. "Hurry up, breakfast is almost ready." She then proceeded to leave the room. The mention of food woke me up a little more though. I was always starving in the morning.

I got out of bed and went to the washroom. Putting on the clothes she gave to me, I grumbled about annoying little people who woke me up too early.

The sight of breakfast cheered me up a little. It got even better when Esme set the bacon in front of me.

"Oh my god, thank you Esme!" I exclaimed, and started wolfing down the bacon.

"_Some_body likes bacon." Rose said, entering the room. I just smiled; my mouth was too full to reply.

After breakfast I tried to help Esme clean up the dishes, but she wouldn't let me. "You go with Alice and Rose. I'll get the dishes for you."

I walked into the living room, where Alice and Rose were setting up what looked like a mini beauty parlour. "I'm guessing the boys aren't back yet?"

"No they're not coming back until tonight."

"Are we playing Barbie already?" I asked, watching Alice set up a vanity. It was a good thing their living room was so large, to hold all this stuff.

"No, that comes later. First, you're going to get permission to go out tonight. Not late, because it's a school night, and your parents won't like that, but you're going out to dinner."

"Okay," I stopped questioning Alice's plans a long time ago. I guessed that the reason she wanted to go out was because she wanted to have some more girl time after the boys got home. I didn't mind; I liked hanging out with Alice and Rose. "May I ask where we're going?"

"Nope," Alice said. "It's a secret."

I got permission from my parents to have dinner with them, and then we watched 'The Princess Bride'. I had seen the movie before, but it was really funny, and I liked watching it again.

"I love some of the outfits that she wears. It makes me wish I lived back then." Alice said with a dreamy look on her face.

"You wear clothes like that anyway. Why does it matter _when_ you live?" Rose teased her.

"I would love to dress up like a princess sometime. Then I would go out and dance and everybody would exclaim over how gorgeous their princess was." I giggled, and then started pirouetting around the room. Alice and Rose joined in with my laughter.

"We could do that, you know!" Alice suddenly exclaimed. "We should do a princess makeover for you!"

"Then we'd all go out to dinner, and none of the boys will be able to keep their eyes off of you." Rose added.

"They wouldn't see me if I was standing next to you two." I said, shaking my head.

"Don't worry," Alice said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "No one will dare to call you plain when we're through with you."

And so the whirlwind princess-making began. Even Esme came and helped out with my hair. I asked them after about an hour of this when they were going to get ready, and Rose laughed.

"Vampire speed, remember? We can get ready a lot faster than you can."

My hair was layered and then curled into and elaborate half-up hairdo with silver flowers twisting in and out of it. My nails were re-done, and a bit of glitter added to the top of them. My makeup came next. Mascara, eyeliner, foundation, blush, lipstick, lip liner, and a million other things I wasn't sure I could name. I wasn't usually a makeup person. In the mornings I usually put on cover-up and left.

Finally, in what felt like hours later, I was ready for the dress. I managed to glance at the clock before Alice came back with it. We had started around noon, and it was almost five now. My eyes widened. How did they manage to keep me still for _five_ hours?

Alice came down with my new green dress, and I noticed the glint in her eye. I was pretty sure she planned this beforehand.

I stepped into the dress. It had a halter top, and it flared out at the waist. It had three tiers slanting down to the left, with accenting shades of green showing through. The shoes were silver ballerina flats. Alice wanted to buy me heels, but I convinced that I would twist my ankle if I ever wore them. Finally they added the finishing touches, my jewellery. It took them another hour to decide what I should wear. In the end they decided on hoop earrings with and intricate flower pattern inside of them, a couple of silver bangles for my bare arms, and a silver necklace that accentuated the low neckline on my dress. The pendant on the necklace had a heart with little angel wings on it.

"I think there's a better mirror upstairs for you to see yourself." Alice finally said, after they all finished admiring their work. I carefully ascended the stairs, careful not to trip on my dress. They led me to Alice's room, which had a mirror covering an entire wall. I looked around her room before I looked at myself. She had a bed in her room too, but it was smaller. Her room was blue and grey; the furniture a matching chestnut.

Looking into the mirror, I gasped. There was Alice, Rose, and Esme, and standing in between them was a gorgeous woman I didn't recognize at first.

Alice stretched up on her toes and whispered in the woman's ear. "Look how gorgeous our princess is!"

I laughed, and the woman laughed at the same time. It was hard to see how she was any similar to me; she seemed mature and statuesque, while I felt like I was a ten-year-old who lacked the grace needed to control long limbs.

Just then, I heard a door open downstairs, and men's voices filtered up. I turned, biting my lip. The boys must be back, and I was still playing dress up.

Saying it together like that made all the pieces click together. Alice needing to buy this dress, painting my nails last night, and the makeover; Alice had seen this coming.

"Alice!" I hissed at her, trying to be quiet, though I knew the boys could hear me. Rose and Esme slipped out the door, and I turned back to the mirror to start taking off the jewellery. Alice's hand reached up to grab my arms before I could start.

"Calm down, Erika. It's fine." She whispered in my ear. "Just wait up here until I tell you to come down, and then let your subjects admire their princess."

"Alice…" I started uneasily.

"It will be fine, trust me." She said. "I can _see_ that it will. Please will you do this? For me?"

I sighed, and looked up again at the woman in the mirror. "Fine, Alice. But if this ever happens again, I want warning first!"

Alice laughed. "Okay! Now stay here until I call you, and then walk down the stairs. Gracefully remember; your loyal servants are going to admire you."

I didn't reply, and she left.

I was nervous to see Edward when I was like this, but a part of me wanted to do this. I wanted to show off a little, and see how he would react.

I started for the stairs so I would be able to hear for the signal. The Cullens had a large curved staircase, perfect for presenting someone to society, and perfect for hiding just around the corner. I listened to the conversation below.

"—surprise for you." Alice was saying.

"What is it?" Jasper's voice was a little apprehensive. I guessed he had seen his fair share of Alice's surprises in his existence.

"It's not for you." Alice replied, and I could imagine the huge smile on her face. "It's for Edward."

There was a short pause, and I imagined the boys were raising their eyebrows at her. I sneaked a quick peek around the corner of the stairs to see. Esme and Carlisle were off to the side, and there was something shiny in Esme's hand. It looked suspiciously like a camera. Rosalie and Alice stood at the bottom of the stairs, blocking the way up. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett stood before them, and I could see the confusion on their faces. I quickly pulled my head back before any of them could see me.

Edward must have noticed the movement though, because he said, "Is Erika still here?" I guessed he knew it was me because I was the only person not in his family to invade his house for a long time.

"Yes, she is." Rose replied to him.

"Why don't you come down, Erika." Alice called to me, and I felt my heart beat a little faster with nervousness. I took a breath and stepped out from around the corner. Standing at the top of the stairs, I looked down on the group below.

Esme was holding the camera up, taking pictures, Carlisle beside her. I couldn't see the look on his face. Alice and Rose had stepped to either side of the stairs, flanking them. Emmett and Jasper stood behind Edward, shock on their faces. I saved Edward for last. There was shock there too, but also something else I couldn't identify. Admiration?

I started to slowly descend the stairs. I heard one of the boys ask if it was really me, and one of the girls replied, but I wasn't paying attention. I was still staring at Edward's face, as he was staring at mine. As I reached the bottom step, he bowed.

"Edward, what are you doing?" I said, speaking for the first time.

A smile on his face, he said, "My mother always taught me to bow in the presence of a lady."

"I'm not—" I began, but Alice cut me off.

"Trust me on this, Erika. If you weren't before, you are now."

I blushed, and looked down. Edward stepped closer and whispered in my ear, as if the others wouldn't hear anyway.

"You look gorgeous, like a princess."

I giggled, surprising myself a little. I hardly ever giggled. "She's all dressed up, and has no place to go," pouted Alice. "We worked so hard on her too… it's too bad nobody else gets to appreciate the artwork." She sighed, looking sad, though we all knew she was faking it.

"It's too bad nobody can take her out dancing or something…" Rosalie's voice chimed in.

Edward got the hint, and smiled. "Erika, would you like to go out dancing with me?"

Alice's words came back to me. _First, you're going to get permission to go out tonight._ Alice had planned this all along. Not that I entirely objected.

"Yes, Edward. I would like that very much." I replied, and then shot a quick look over to Alice. She had a huge smile on her face.

It only took a few minutes for Edward to get ready; he went at vampire speed. I spent the time accusing Alice.

"You planned this all along, didn't you?"

She giggled. "Of course I did! How else would it have worked out so perfectly?"

I rolled my eyes. "Next time, warning," I reminded her, and she nodded solemnly, her eyes dancing.

Edward went to get one of his cars, while I sat on the Cullens' porch swing. It was a warm night luckily, so I didn't have to freeze. Alice would never let me cover up this dress with a coat.

I'm not sure what kind of car it was that Edward drove up in, but it was very expensive and formal looking. I started for it, but he suddenly appeared and stopped me.

"I wouldn't want you to get those beautiful shoes dirty," he said, and then he swept me up in his arms before I could protest. He carried me right to the passenger side door, which was open for me. After helping me into the car he went to his side and started the car.

While he was pulling out of the driveway I asked, "Now am I allowed knowing where we're going?"

"I know a nice place that's having a formal tonight; on the other side of town."

"Are we going to get there before it starts?" It took a long time to drive across town.

"It only takes a long time if you drive the speed limit," Edward laughed, hearing my thought. I checked that my seatbelt was on properly.

We got to the other side of town in what I thought was record time, though Edward was saying something about 'slow'.

The place was amazing, though I missed the name. It was full of twinkling lights, and a live band was playing. There was an indoor and outdoor dancing area, plus a dining area in an adjoining room. I wasn't sure if I should eat in this dress; it seemed like that would tempt fate too much.

Edward pulled me onto the dance floor, and began to lead me around. I was a good dancer when my partner was a good leader, and Edward was incredible. We whirled gracefully about the room.

A few songs in, the band played one of my favourites; 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift.

_We were both young when I first saw you  
I close my eyes and the flashback starts  
I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air  
See the lights  
See the party, the ball gowns  
I see you make your way through the crowd  
And say hello, little did I know_

I caught Edward's eyes, and blushed. I wanted to look away, embarrassed, but I couldn't. His golden eyes stayed locked on mine.

_That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles  
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet  
And I was crying on the staircase  
Begging you please don't go, and I said_

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone  
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess  
It's a love story, baby just say yes.

I really did feel like a princess right now, with Edward spinning me around.

_So I sneak out to the garden to see you.  
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew.  
So close your eyes; escape this town for a little while.  
'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,  
And my daddy said Stay away from Juliet,  
But you were everything to me; I was begging you, please don't go_

Edward spun me outside onto the other dance floor. I could still hear the music though, and I suspected there were speakers outside.

_And I said,  
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.  
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess  
It's a love story, baby just say yes_

Romeo save me, they're tryin' to tell me how to feel;  
This love is difficult, but it's real.  
Don't be afraid; we'll make it out of this mess.  
It's a love story, baby just say yes.

What a mess I was in, barging into the Cullens lives. I couldn't care about it much though, not when I was staring into eyes like melted gold…

_I got tired of waiting,  
Wondering if you were ever comin' around.  
My faith in you was fading  
When I met you on the outskirts of town,_

And I said,  
"Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone.  
I keep waiting for you but you never come.  
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think

I wasn't sure if the rest of the world still existed. All I could see was Edward.

_He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said,  
"Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.  
I love you and that's all I really know.  
I talked to your dad - go pick out a white dress;  
It's a love story, baby just say yes_

Would I ever have a love story like hers?

_'Cause we were both young when I first saw you..._

The song ended, and I finally broke away from Edward's intense eyes. My thinking was extremely muddled. Edward led me over to one of the benches around the dance floor so I could sit down.

"This is really fun," I said after a quiet moment. "We should definitely do this more often."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Edward said, smiling. His smile quickly faded though, and I leaned in, worried.

"Edward? What is it?"

"She… she liked dancing with me too."

I could see the pain coming, and I could see that it would be one of the worse ones. Sometimes when he remembered her the pain wasn't so bad, but sometimes it overwhelmed him. This was one of those times.

"Edward, I'm here. I like dancing, whether it's with you or not. I was the best dancer in my gym class last year, except maybe for Christine. She was very good at leading."

I had got his attention for a moment, always a good sign.

"I know what you're thinking," I continued quickly. "'A girl, leading?'. Yes, I danced with her a couple of times. Sometimes none of the boys wanted to dance, and even though there were almost twice as many boys as there were girls, nobody would dance. So we danced with each other."

He was watching my face, urging me to continue. "That was the day that the teacher was marking us on our dancing. When I went to find out my marks she told me I did my best dancing when I was dancing with Christine." I laughed, and was relieved to hear a small chuckle escape his lips.

"Thanks, Erika." He said smiling.

"Anytime; friends always help friends."

He looked away for a moment, out onto the dance floor, and I felt that he wanted to say something. When turned to me again though, it was just to ask me if I would like to dance again. I agreed, thinking about his reaction. Was it something about 'friends'? It couldn't be. It's not like we were anything less. Again, Alice's words came back to me, and I subtly blocked my mind from Edward.

_Soul mate_ she said. But I was sure that wasn't possible. Edward couldn't possibly like me more than a friend, right?

* * *

OME drama is building! Did I say that last chapter? I can't remember.

I'M 16!!! YAY IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!! I ALSO PASSED MY DRIVING TEST: I HAVE MY LEARNERS! YAY!

Dance JassieCake, Dance!

Sorry I didn't post last weekend. I'm bad. Also, I have minor writer's block, I think I lost my muse. I'll try to find it ASAP.

LOL this is the first time I put a song in a story, so I'm sorry if it sucked. The reading is enhanced if you listen to the song...

Again, this story is going to have **12 CHAPTERS**. No more, no less.

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	9. Love and Friendship

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Dedication:  
To Haileigh: You should have won that pagent, because you're just that awsome. Also your dress was way beautiful!**

**Important note: The end of this chapter is The Dream: The vision that started this story. This is my chapter 13, my dream.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Love and Friendship

School was bound to be mundane after the weekend I had. Sleeping over at the Cullens, finding out more about them, and dancing with Edward…

I was sitting in the library in the morning, talking with my friends as I usually did. I was distracted now though. I was daydreaming of last night, and how Edward's hands felt on my waist, and his ochre eyes, and how beautiful of a dancer he was. To my extreme annoyance, Haileigh pulled me out of my reverie.

"Hey, Erika? You in there?" She asked, waving her hand in front of my face. I frowned as the library came into view. My other friends were discussing something else, but Haileigh was sitting in front of me, waiting for me to come back down to earth.

"Sorry, Haileigh. I'm a little out of it this morning."

She smiled mischievously. "I noticed. It couldn't have anything to do with your _date _last night, could it?"

My breath left my body in a whoosh. "What date?" I asked, trying to play innocent.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what date. My family went out to the formal last night to celebrate my grandparents anniversary. I saw you there, hanging off Edward's arm. He's the one you keep spending lunch with, right? Why didn't you tell me you were dating?"

I quickly hushed her, before anyone could overhear. "We're _not _dating."

She snorted. "Didn't look that way to me."

"No, really. We're just friends."

"You may think you're friends, but he sure doesn't."

"What?"

"I don't know how you couldn't tell, with you not able to keep your eyes off each other all night. You say what you want, but I can bet you he thinks of you as more than a friend."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Haileigh." It wasn't possible. He was just being a gentleman last night. I bet he was just watching me to make sure I didn't fall over in that elaborate dress.

"Whatever. Just know that I wasn't the only one who noticed how gorgeous you looked last night." She said, letting the subject drop.

She may have stopped talking about it, but I couldn't manage to keep my mind off of it. I automatically blocked my mind so Edward wouldn't hear anything he shouldn't.

Last night was the best of my life. It was my every hope and dream as a fangirl. I wanted to dance under the stars forever. I wasn't surprised I hadn't noticed Haileigh there; I didn't notice anybody but Edward. It was just me, and him. I could still feel his cool body against mine, every cell in my body buzzing, and the way he smiled at me, like he had a secret…

I shook my head. It seemed I had had this conversation with myself a million times since I met Edward. He likes me, he likes me not; he likes me, he likes me not. When would my heart finally realize that it didn't _matter_ if he liked me? It could never be enough to replace the love he had for Bella. I _shouldn't_ ever be enough to replace Bella. It was just common sense; you should never mess with true love. So what was I doing?

Edward was all smiles when I met him for lunch, and I couldn't help but smile in return. In my hidden thoughts I was thinking of what Haileigh said. Looking around, I wondered how many other people thought we were a couple.

"Erika? Hello?"

"Oh, sorry Edward. I'm really zoned out today."

"I noticed. Could it have anything to do with last night?" He whispered in my ear.

I smirked. "Maybe a little." We both laughed, two friends with a secret.

Inside my head, I frowned. Two friends with a secret, I wished. Again I wondered what he thought of me.

"—you think?" Edward's voice registered in my mind.

"Sorry, what?"

"You really _are_ spaced today. I was wondering if you'd like to come watch the sunset with me tonight. I know a really nice place to watch it from."

"I think that would be nice, if my parents let me out again tonight."

"I'm sure if you have all your homework done, it should be no problem."

"Yea… what time?"

"How about I pick you up around seven?"

"That's kind of early, isn't it?"

"It takes a while to get there. You're going to have to do some hiking."

"Aren't I allowed to ride?"

He snorted. "A car can't fit into the forest."

"Yea, but you can. I'd like a piggyback ride."

He laughed. "Okay then, but it's still seven."

"'Kay," I replied, grinning.

Edward walked me home again after school, this time with a reminder.

"I'll see you in four hours," and then he disappeared as he always did. I sighed and walked into my house, trying to decide what to wear. He said hiking, so I figured skirts were out of the question. I looked down at myself. What I was wearing now didn't seem to be so bad actually. I went and got a snack from the kitchen before starting on my homework.

Three hours later, I was second guessing my outfit. I had finished my homework, gotten permission to go, and Edward was coming in an hour. The jeans I was wearing were okay, but maybe I should change my shirt? It was a little cooler out now. No, no, the cardigan should be good enough to keep me warm. It was cool, but not _that_ cool.

The phone rang, and I rushed to pick it up. The caller ID said it was one of the Cullens calling. "Hello?" I said eagerly into the phone.

"Erika," said Alice's voice through the phone. "Relax, it's going to be fine. What you're wearing is fine, and you won't freeze. Now stop deciding to change your outfit. You're giving me a headache. And never wear that patterned turtleneck with that hairclip. Ever. It looks horrible on you; it would look better on someone else."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks Alice."

"Anytime!" She said, and hung up.

With that worry out of the way, I went to my computer and checked my emails. Most of it was junk mail.

When 6:50 rolled around, I already had my shoes on, and was standing by the door, looking out the window beside it for Edward to drive up. The minute he did, I called a goodbye to my parents, and left. He smiled as I got into the car.

"You look excited."

"I am." I said, and he laughed.

It took fifteen minutes to drive to the edge of the forest we were going to venture into. He helped me out of the car, and pointed me in the right direction.

"You want to hike for a bit, or do you want to run the whole way?"

I grinned. I wanted to run, to feel the wind in my hair, to see how fast he could run. "Run."

I clambered up on his back with the help of a well placed rock to stand on. Once he was sure that I had a good hold on him, he took off.

And I was flying.

The speed was incredible. I could understand why Bella was afraid the first couple of times, but somehow, I couldn't feel the same panic. The adrenaline was high in my veins, by mind unable to make out anything of our surroundings except greens blurs.

All too soon, he started to slow, and I could make out the trees around us. We were still going fast, but he was slowing down. Then he was walking into a small clearing with a huge tree smack dab in the centre of it. I tried to see the top of it; it was incredibly tall.

Edward slowly lowered me to the ground, and made sure I was steady before letting go. My legs felt strange, like they were vibrating with energy or something.

"You okay?" He asked me, his eyes searching my face.

"That. Was. Amazing!" I exclaimed.

"You don't feel nauseous or anything?"

"I swear, I'm fine. Have you noticed you can't see the sun from here?"

He laughed. "We're not watching the sunset from here. We're going up there." He pointed up to the highest branches in the large tree.

"How am I—" I started to say, but he had walked over and swept me up in his arms again and jumped. The jump was almost as fun as running. He managed to jump all the way up to the first branches, about 20 feet up the tree. I laughed, my heart racing.

He shifted me so I was clinging to his back and began to climb up the rest of the tree, being careful that not a lot of the branches hit me. We were almost at the top, in the last few sturdy branches, when I saw the strangest thing. It looked like some of the branches had fallen over across some others, and they were balanced in the air, creating a bit of a platform.

Edward jumped on top of this anomaly, and I saw that the top of the platform had the bark stripped off and was smooth. The branches were held together by nails.

"I'm guessing you made this?" I asked him, as he set me down on it. It was just big enough for the two of us, and I noticed the branches in front of the platform was removed to give a clear view out of the tree.

"I made this a while ago. I go here sometimes, to be alone. It's a bit of a special spot for me." I felt touched that he had brought me here, when the place was so special for him. He read that in my mind, and whispered, "I don't mind sharing it with you, Erika. We can go here anytime we like, just say the word."

I smiled. "I'd like that."

We simply sat there, staring out at the sky, for some time. I had glanced over the edge at one point, and instantly regretted it. It was a long way down. I huddled closer to Edward, who put his arm around me comfortingly. It was still warm out, not that it mattered to him, and he had removed his sweater to reveal a white t-shirt. I tried to block him from hearing the eager fantasies going on in my head about the body that might be underneath it.

He broke the silence as the sun started to set.

"Thank you, Erika."

"For what?"

He paused for a moment, forming the words in his head. "For helping me. You didn't have to, you never had to, yet you stayed anyway. Even when I was… not myself, you were there for me, helping me. Without you…" he stopped again, and said something different. "You helped mend a broken heart." The last part was said with a sad little smile.

I looked down. "You helped too, Edward. You say that I didn't need to stay. You're wrong. Edward, before you… I knew what I was missing. I was lonely—no, not that. My heart was aching; it felt like it was hollow sometimes, eating away at me chest. I wanted someone to hold onto, to keep me sane. I needed someone who would always support me, and be there for me if I needed them. Edward, you're that person. Since you've been here, the hole in my chest disappeared." I looked up into his eyes. "You mended my heart too, Edward."

"Maybe we should go into a business. We could be a great team."

"Doing what?"

"Mending hearts. We seem to be very good at it."

I smiled at him, and looked down. "You're welcome, Edward."

After a moment, he sighed, and moved to put his sweater in between him and me. "I wouldn't want you to get… cold." The last word came out after an almost imperceptible pause, but I knew what it meant. He was remembering again, and I couldn't let his train of thought go any farther.

I grabbed his face in my hands, forcing him to look into my eyes. "Listen to me, Edward. Look at me! I'm here for you, right here. Take a deep breath. Come on," I took a deep breath, demonstrating for him, and was relieved to see him do the same. "Now, clear your mind. Don't close your eyes; you know that won't help. Look at me. Now just listen, listen to my voice. It's the only thing right now; just me, and you, and my voice. Take another breath." I waited a moment while he did that, still holding his gaze. I could see his body starting to relax, his eyes growing less panicked. "Better?" I asked.

"Yes." He breathed, blinking slowly. I lowered my arms, taking my hands off his face. "Thank you."

"I'm here for you, Edward." I said simply. An expression crossed his face at my words, so quick I didn't notice it.

"Erika, you are everything for me right now. You know how bad it would be if you weren't here; I know my family told you that. I need you, Erika."

"I'm here for you," I repeated.

"Will you always be here? Please, promise me you'll always be here for me. I _need_ you." Edward's voice was begging, his eyes desperate. His words and expressions froze me in place, my mental barriers going up.

As much as I loved him, as much as I wished I could promise him forever, I knew it couldn't happen. He belonged with Bella, and I couldn't abandon the life I had now, with my family and friends. Forever meant as long as he existed, and he was immortal. It would be hoping too much to think that he wouldn't turn me into a vampire. It was tempting, but I was thinking of my mother, and my father, and my sister… I couldn't leave them behind. I chose my words carefully.

"Edward, I'm here for you. As long as you need me, I'll be here."

I couldn't tell if he had noticed that I didn't promise. He smiled, his face lighting up.

The rest of our conversations weren't as dangerous. We talked about school, and swapped childhood stories. I was fascinated by the life he had growing up, even if his memories were dim. The sunset seemed to go by too fast. I was comfortable here, high up in the trees, with Edward's arm around me, and seeming like we were the only people in the world.

I knew that things were complicated, and that I loved him. It was possible he loved me too. But I couldn't worry about such things just then. Right then, it was just two friends, best friends, watching the sun go down in perfect harmony. If there was nothing else I was sure of, it was this; that the best bliss in the world is watching the sun go down with one of your best friends, not a care in the world.

All too soon, we had to go. Edward carried me down the tree again, and ran me back to the car. I was feeling pretty windblown by now, so I looked in the mirror in the car to check. Sure enough, my hair was everywhere. I did my best to make it look presentable again.

Edward watched me with interest. "I'm sure your parents won't notice." He said, guessing my intentions.

"They will, and will suspect the worst. I was out with a boy for a couple of hours, and when I come back, my hair's all messed up. What else would they think?"

Edward smirked as he drove up to my house. "Don't worry, they haven't started worrying about you yet. I'm pretty sure that if you go to bed soon, they won't bug you."

"I might take that advice," I said, yawning. The day had really drained my energy. I stumbled into the house, sleepy now. I slipped past my parents, and went almost straight to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

So I didn't see the shadow outside my window, looking at me through the blinds I forgot to close. I didn't see him sigh, looking at my sleeping face. And I didn't hear the words he whispered before disappearing into the night.

"_I need you, Erika. I'll always need you."_

_

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_

There it is! It's not over, but that scene in the tree, being there forever, comfoting Edward, always being there for him: that is the story.

The next chapter is just as important. The next chapter is the Second Dream: amazingly, this is another part that came to me, and it fit perfectly with this story. So you should be very upset if you miss chapter 9.

I think I might start posting twice a week now, so make sure to check often!

There are going to be **12 CHAPTERS**. I'm going to post the last chapter on Edward's 108th birthday: June 18th. Make sure to watch for it.

The preview for Chapter 10 is extrememly dramatic: check out my profile!

Make sure to keep reviewing!

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	10. Ultimatum

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Dedication:  
This chapter goes out to my family who won't ever (hopefully) leave me. Also, because they're letting me go to SSIF.**

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Chapter 10: Ultimatum

I didn't understand Edward's behaviour for the rest of the week. He alternated between really friendly, and incredibly distant. And his face always looked as if he was struggling with something, like there was something he wanted to say. I was extremely curious, but I knew Edward, and I knew he wouldn't say what was on his mind until he felt he was ready.

I also felt the strangest sense of déjà vu that took me a while to place. I finally remembered with a pang of unease—this was almost exactly how he was acting before he left Bella in New Moon. Did that mean he was going to leave me?

I took a deep breath. Bella didn't know it was coming, so she couldn't prepare for it. I could. So in response to his strange behaviour, I spent my newfound time avoiding Edward with my friends. I didn't walk with Edward very much; instead I visited my friends who took the bus. I talked with them more, and on Thursday I even ate lunch with them instead of Edward.

It was harder than it seems. I missed Edward every second, and his face was always in my mind; secretly though. I made sure to block myself so Edward couldn't read my mind. I thought about the rest of the Cullens too. I was really going to miss Alice and Rosalie.

If Edward was hurt by my exclusion of him, he didn't show it. I tried to not feel bad for him. After all, he was the one who was going to leave, and I was trying to build a life for myself for after he was gone.

Friday rolled around, and I didn't have plans. Becca had cancelled on me last minute, and so I had to walk home. I don't know how Edward found out so quickly, but he was waiting for me at my locker after school. We didn't speak as I gathered my books and left the school. He took my books from my arms then, and I stared determinedly at my shoes. The silence didn't feel comfortable, as our rare silences usually were. This one felt awkward and tense. I knew it was today. Today he would leave, and I was hoping I was ready.

"Erika," he said when we reached my house. I braced myself as he continued, "can I come over later?"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to say yes or no, so I stayed silent.

"Erika, we need to talk."

My mouth stayed shut, but inside I was scared, terrified. All I could hear in my blocked mind was, _He's leaving, he's leaving, he's leaving_. I think my mind might have been in shock, the full realization having just hit me. _He's leaving_.

"Please?" A final plea from the figure in front of me, I almost didn't notice.

I took a breath and whispered, "When?" It seemed a whisper was all I could manage.

"Later, after your parents are asleep. I don't think they should hear our conversation. It might mention something weird, like vampires." He was trying to be funny, but his voice was tense.

After a long moment watching his face grow more and more agitated, I nodded. "I'll leave the window open." I said, knowing his favourite way of entering houses.

* * *

The night was warm, and a gentle breeze was blowing through my window. I had pretended to get changed into my pyjamas for my parents, but as soon as they were asleep I changed back into daytime clothes. When I first planned on getting changed, I thought I would slip back into the same clothes I was wearing earlier, but a glance at my closet told me otherwise. There were shirts and skirts there from Alice that I hadn't worn yet, and might never, considering how many of them were inappropriate for school.

I chose a skirt that fell to just above my knees, glad that I had shaved that morning. It was black with a white lace trim at the bottom, and was fitted at the waist but flared out after that. On the right side in the front was a beautiful picture of the Eiffel tower. A plant stem covered in leaves circled the tower. The entire picture was white, like it like it was lit up against a night sky.

My shirt was a soft white, with the same pattern of leaves twisting over it, this time in a black colour. The vine meandered up my stomach and looped around my back before tracing the v-cut neckline above my chest and then disappearing. It was fitted to show off my waist, and the neck was cut low. I decided that it would look silly to have that much exposed at the neck without a necklace to accent it. I found another new necklace she bought me—a black butterfly with white speckles, about the size of the palm of my hand, with a black and white ribbon threaded through one of the wings. I had earrings to match, each with their own miniature butterfly, and put them on.

I was having fun now, so I decided to put on some makeup, just a bit; a little mascara, a little blush, checking my foundation and cover-up. I looked in the mirror attached to the back of my door, and liked what I saw. I didn't look half bad. I probably _could_ wear this to school, though I would be terrified of spilling something on it.

I heard a quiet scrape behind me and whirled. Edward was sitting on my bed, having just put the screen back in my window and closing it. I walked out of my doorway, watching as a strange expression crossed Edward's face. It was gone before I could identify it, but it seemed… admiring? I sat carefully on the edge of the bed, not sure what to do. What were you supposed to do when your best friend… your crush, was going to leave you?

He was leaning against the pillows by my headboard. He scooted over to make room for me, and I slid in next to him. We stared across the room for a few moments. I felt uncomfortable sitting next to him right now; it was like he was a stranger. I wanted to move.

I heard him take a breath, but I didn't look at him, instead I looked down and played with the trim of my skirt. I couldn't see the way he was watching me play with the little ruffle, and how much of my legs were exposed, and the way the leaves travelled up my shirt.

"Erika, we need to talk."

"I know. You said that already." I said. It felt like I was choking, a lump in my throat. I tried to swallow, but it didn't work. I resorted to taking deeper breaths.

"We need to talk about… _us_."

I took another deep breath instead of answering.

He seemed to notice my strange behaviour then, and asked curiously, "Are you okay?"

I lost it then. "Why on earth would I be okay, Edward?" I shot out, working to keep my voice quiet so my parents wouldn't wake up. I was looking at his face now, so I saw the bewilderment on his face.

"What do you mean?"

I took another deep breath, the anger leaving me. My voice sounded almost dead when I responded.

"Because you're going to… to," another breath, "you're going to leave."

He simply stared for a moment, and to my absolute horror, I felt my eyes starting to water. I looked down, trying to get a grip on myself.

Edward's hand reached over, and he used one of his fingers to lift my chin so I would look at him. I knew I couldn't fight, so I simply tried to not fall into his golden eyes like I knew I wanted to.

"Erika, Erika, I'm not leaving you!" His voice was disbelieving, like he couldn't figure out how I came to that conclusion.

I almost felt mean for bringing her up, but I did anyway. "You were acting just like you did before you left Bella."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me all week?"

"If you're going to leave, I want some other friends to fall back on. I'm not going to end up like _her_."

My mentions of Bella didn't even make him flinch. "Erika, you're not listening. I'm not going to leave you, ever." I tried looking away from him, wishing that tears weren't spilling down my cheeks. He didn't let me look away, instead moving his hand so it rested against the side of my face and leaning closer. I could smell his breath, like a summer day.

"Erika, I love you."

Every single thought in my head stopped for a few moments. A resounding negative started to build in my brain, before bursting out of me.

"No!" I protested, moving away from him, and this time he let me. "It's not supposed to be like this! Bella! Bella is who you belong with. She's your true love. I can't ever replace that! I don't want to!"

"You're not replacing Bella, Erika." Edward said, his eyes blazing intensely.

"This can't happen. She was your true love, the other have of the puzzle. You can't love me when she was made for you!"

He sighed patiently. "You want to use a puzzle analogy? Fine. "He looked deep into my eyes, and I couldn't think, let alone look away.

"Bella _was_ the other half of my puzzle, a perfect match. It's true that nobody on earth now, or whoever has existed in the past, or who will be born in the future will ever fit me as well as she did. But when she died, part of me died with her. Parts of me broke off and were lost with her. The edges of my puzzle are jagged now.

"But then you came, and the strangest thing happened. I felt more content, happier, when I was around you. I… I fell in love, which I thought was impossible. I couldn't be in love like this, not after Bella broke me. I was incomplete forever.

"Erika, the edges of my puzzle changed their shape when Bella died, and now _you_ fit it. There will always be holes, and jagged edges that will never be filled, but you _are_ my other half now. I became a new person, a new shape when Bella died, and she can no longer be my true love. Only you complete me now. Only you, Erika.

"The words aren't near… powerful enough to describe how I feel about you, but they're the only words in my head right now." He paused in his speech for a moment to look into my eyes again. Sometime during this speech I had looked down, but I looked up now, and held his gaze, his eyes deeper than an ocean.

"I love you, Erika. You and only you. Forever."

My breath was caught, and I fought to breathe. I pulled away, not yet sure how to respond.

"I don't know, Edward…" It would be a huge step to take, to accept his affections and relinquish my ideals of him and Bella. I didn't know what to think.

"It's okay. I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt. We can go on as we usually do, of course, if you don't… agree. I will always be here for you though, if you change your mind." He said, and I looked up, I caught the look that crossed his face this time. It was pain, and worry, and anguish mixed into one.

I knew he would always be near me, because he truly loved me, and no matter how much I hurt him, he would stay. He didn't like the thought of it, a rejection, but he was ready for one. His face had relaxed, and he had resigned himself to his fate, but I could still see the pain in his eyes.

He loved me. That thought kept on creeping back up into my brain. _He loved me._ I loved him too, I had always known that. I loved him and he loved me. Why was I hesitating? My rejection was causing him pain. I couldn't think of a good enough excuse. I couldn't think much of anything.

Then something clicked. I loved him and he loved me, and there was no problem with us being together. And my indecision, and the possibility of my rejection was causing him pain. Pain I had worked so hard to erase. What was I _doing_?

I didn't say anything; I just leaned over a little bit, towards him. He leaned in eagerly, his lips meeting mine, and any trace of doubts I might have had vanished. It seemed so _right_, so perfect, just like this. Like the world had stopped turning, time had stopped passing, and it was only me and Edward.

He rolled over so he was hovering over me, his lips never leaving mine. My arms went around his neck and his held me close to him at my waist. I could feel his cool touch on my waist, and I shivered in delight. His lips pulled back a moment, but I whispered, "No," and brought my lips back to his.

I don't know how long we kissed, though it felt like hundreds of years and five minutes all rolled into one. I felt his hands tracing over my body, down my spine, following the leaves on my shirt, while I traced the muscles on his chest, feeling his cool skin against my fingers.

He moved his lips across my chin to my ear, and then down to my neck. I moaned in pleasure as his lips traced back up to mine, noticing that my shirt had pulled up a little in our movement and now his hands were directly on my skin of my waist. He moved them along my stomach and I gasped. He smiled and started kissing my neck again, letting me catch my breath. I noticed his hands started tracing along my legs, very near to the hem of my skirt. I could feel one of his hands rest on my thigh, and the other on my back.

Suddenly he rolled over, using my leg to pull me with him. I was lying on top of him, and we were staring into each other's eyes, both our breathing erratic.

"That was different than I expected." I finally managed to gasp, and he chuckled.

"What did you expect?"

"Well, I figured you would pull away quickly, thinking we had risked my life too much or something, like you did with Bella." It seemed to be okay to say her name now. "That was…" I was at a loss for words to describe what just happened. My brain still felt like mush, and I was surprised that I was forming coherent sentences.

He laughed again. "I'm not sure I expected that either."

"You're okay though, right?" I said, not wanting him to die at his hands in a moment of weakness.

"No, I'm fine. It's different with you." He saw the confusion on my face. "First of all, and most importantly, your blood isn't potent like Bella's was. Second, I'm not new to this. I know what my limits are, and how much I can take. I also know how fragile humans are… even more now," he added, and I'm pretty sure he was thinking of an accident that happened long ago. "So I know how much _you_ can take."

I smiled. "I'm not complaining." I said, and we both laughed, and our lips met again.

I'm not sure how much sleep I got that night. When I finally did drift off, it was in Edward's arms, and my dreams were filled with him, memories mostly. Dancing in my green dress, watching him watching me. Sitting in the tree, watching the sunset, his arm around me. The first time he ate lunch with me, how he leaned his face close to reassure me, and how his breath smelled wonderful. All the times in between, when I would catch him staring at me, and wondered why.

He was gone when I woke up, but there was a note on my bedside table.

_I didn't think you'd want your parents finding me here. I'll pick you up later today; I have a surprise for you. I love you._

The three little words at the end of the note made my heart thump erratically in my chest. I was glad I usually sleep late, because it meant that I wouldn't have to wait long to see him again.

I passed about an hour slowly eating breakfast. Shockingly, someone in my house had gone shopping and there were bagels. I spread some cream cheese on one and took it over to the table. Our kitchen table was in front of a window, and I watched the cars going by as I ate. I lived downtown, and I could see the road from my house. Afterwards, to waste more time, I washed the dishes I used and wiped the crumbs off the counter.

It took me another little while to decide what to wear. I finally decided on white jeans and a forest green halter that Alice had bought for me. I wore my gold hoops today. They had little charms hanging off them, and I always got a lot of compliments when I wore them.

I didn't quite know how late he was going to come, so I decided to do something with my hair. I found some pretty butterfly-shaped clips for my hair, and I pinned it back from my face. I took extra care with my makeup; I had just finished applying the last of my mascara when I heard a knock at the door. I ran downstairs as fast as I could, nearly tripping over the shoes by the door. It was Edward of course, and as soon as he saw me he kissed my forehead.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

"Yep! I just have to put my shoes on."

It was quiet in the car, but it was a comfortable silence. We were both smiling and we kept sneaking little glances at each other. I still couldn't believe that he wanted me. I couldn't imagine how I was different from any other girl.

"Do I get to know what the surprise is?" I asked him after a little bit.

He laughed, "It wouldn't be a surprise then!"

"So?" I said, but I knew he wouldn't tell me.

"We're almost there, just 5 more minutes," he said, still chuckling.

"Oh-kay…" I said, trying to sound dejected. I'm pretty sure the smile of my face gave me away though.

When we got to the house, Edward hurried me inside. He looked like he was trying to avoid someone, and as he walked into the house I could see why. The minute I walked inside I was intercepted by his family.

"I told you so, Erika! I told you!" Alice was exclaiming as she hugged me. I could see Esme and Carlisle across the room, smiling so wide I'm surprised their faces didn't split in half.

"You know, Erika, I have the perfect nail polish to go with that halter. I bet Edward would love it!" Rose said, also smiling. They were all smiling, even Jasper. That could be because everyone was happy though, and he was enjoying the emotional climate.

I could hear Emmett in the background, singing, "Edward and Erika, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I—hey!" and then a thud as the singing cut off, like something was thrown at him.

Edward managed to keep a hold of me, just barely. Alice and Rose were both trying to get him to let go so they could steal me away for some sort of beautification plot. I'm not actually sure how we escaped them, but I might have made promises I'll regret later. Like another shopping trip with Alice.

We ran up the stairs in our escape, and ended up at Edward's bedroom door.

"Well, that wasn't scary at all," I said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Edward sounded a bit sheepish. "There was really no way to avoid that. Anyway, your surprise is just behind this door."

"In your room?"

"I do believe that is what's behind this door."

I rolled my eyes, pushed the door open, and walked in. I had to stop in shock a few steps in though. His room seemed completely different than the last time I saw it.

"What happened?" I asked, still staring around the room in wonderment.

"You don't like it?" Edward asked, his voice worried. He closed the door behind us. It was likely an attempt to stop his family from listening in.

"No, I love it!" I said quickly, reassuring him. "Just… why?"

Edward pulled me over to the bed and took my hands in his. Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, "I told you, Erika. Bella… isn't for me anymore. Now it's you. It would be wrong to try to hold onto something that isn't there anymore."

Edward had painted his room, and now it matched my shirt. It was a forest green, with silver accents. The comforter on the bed had silver stitching. It was completely different from the light blue and white motif.

"Why green and silver?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Last weekend, when we were dancing, your dress was green, and you jewellery was silver. You were stunning. That was the night I discovered that I loved you. Before that I was… confused still. Dancing with you that night though, that made the decision. I knew then that I couldn't live without you."

I could feel my eyes misting up a little. Sometimes, those kinds of speeches would sound corny in real life. Edward though, he made it sound so magnificent, poetic. I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." I whispered, and kissed him again. This kiss lasted longer, but it stayed sweet, not bursting with the passion of the night before.

Suddenly I heard a thump from downstairs, and Emmett yelled, "Stop it Jasper!"

"It's not _my_ fault they're so in love and everything, "Jasper said, faking innocence. I broke away from Edward, wondering what they were talking about. I noticed Edward was trying to suppress laughter.

"You're the one spreading it around!" Emmett shouted back at Jasper.

I glanced at Edward curiously, and he chuckled, "Jasper decided that Emmett had lost that loving feeling, so he decided to give some to him. Rose isn't really in the mood though…"

"I can't help it!" Jasper said, unconvincingly. "It's their fault!"

"Jasper!" Emmett yelled. "Edward, stop making out with your girlfriend! Jasper won't leave me alone!"

I frowned in the direction of Edward's door. "Go away then," I muttered, and turned back to Edward. I ignored the ensuing crashes from downstairs.

Eventually, Emmett decided to haul us out of the house himself, so Edward figured it would be a good time to leave. He carried me to our tree, and we stared out at the sky again, kissing every few minutes.

We decided to take it slower than we had last night. At the time, it was amazing, but it was still kind of freaky. I had never been in a relationship like this before, and I didn't want to mess it up. Passion can't be the only thing in a relationship.

If I was in a book, this would be the greatest part, maybe the climax. I was incredibly happy, and I thought nothing could go wrong. It was only Edward and I again. I wished time would stop, so I could stay like this forever.

If I was in a book, something bad would happen to me soon. After the big part when the guy and the girl get together, there's always some kind of drama to test their love; some obstacle to overcome, which can determine love or hate, together or apart, life… or death.

It's a good thing I'm not in a book.

* * *

Fun ending!

I can't believe I'm posting chapter 10 already! It seems only so recently that I posted my first chapter. It even feels like I just had the dream yesterday, even though it was months ago. Like, last year, in October! Time really flies.

Actually, the part of this chapter from when Edward first says 'I love you' to the part where he says he loves me forever I had written down on a scrap of paper late one night. I still have it. There's a date on the paper, so I know it's from November. That part didn't change much at all. It's amazing to see what I wrote in the middle of the night half a year ago show up online, and have people read it. I never knew I'd get this far.

I certainly didn't expect the support of so many fans! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and to everyone who will in the future!

Thank you Little Annie for pointing out a typo on the last chapter. Last posting will be on Saturday, June 20th.

Make sure to check out my profile for a dramatic sneak preview!

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql

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	11. Crash

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Dedication:  
Ello, thank you. You keep me sane (thank God!).**

This chapter is from **EDWARD'S POV!**

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Chapter 11: Crash

Love is confusing, to say the least. There have been thousands of philosophers over thousands of years who have theorized about it, and tried to draw conclusions. Unfortunately, all of them have different answers. Love is an angel, love is passion, love is true, love is a dragon, love is a dove, love prevails, love messes with your head; there's only one thing they all agree on—love is different for everyone.

One of these philosophers of love believes that a person can have more than one soul mate, but those people could be spread over years, could be anywhere in the world. There's only a small chance you'll find yours.

What are the chances that I've found two?

It wasn't difficult either. Loving Erika is like floating, flying on a breeze without a care in the world. We were always together now; I even sang her to sleep at night. The worst times were when we had different classes, and we had to be apart. I spent every moment thinking of her anyway, and I know she did the same, from casual readings of her mind. I tried to do that less now, trying to respect her privacy, but sometimes I couldn't help it. Her mind was fascinating, and I was still hoping to unlock the secrets of her hidden mind.

It was two weeks later that she suggested I go hunt.

"You haven't left my side for two weeks. I _know_ you're thirsty; you can't hide your eyes. Go hunt." She said to me on Friday night.

"I'm fine really," I said, not wanting to leave her yet, not even for the short time it would take to hunt.

"Edward, please? Do it for me. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"But I'm not, love."

She thought about that for a moment, her face going blank as she thought. I tried to pry into her mind to see her plans for getting me to go hunt, but she had blocked me. I knew better than to ask her to let me in.

"Well," she said finally, "Maybe _I'm_ uncomfortable. Maybe I don't want to be kissing a thirsty vampire. It's not safe."

I didn't have a comeback for that. This whole relationship was dangerous was dangerous; I knew that. I didn't want to hurt her though, and I knew I had to do as much as possible to prevent killing her. Hunting was my only choice. "Fine," I said heavily, giving in. "I'll go tomorrow, and be back for Monday."

"Thank you!" She said, kissing me. "I have a few errands to run this weekend anyway, and I don't know if I want you tagging along."

"Errands?" I asked.

"Oh, Alice has been nagging me to go buy some things, but I've been stalling. Maybe if I go and buy them, she'll stop bugging me."

"What kind of things?" I asked curiously. Her mind was still blocked. As I spoke, I caught a flash of a thought, some kind of silky clothing, before she blocked me again.

"None of your business," she mumbled, a beautiful crimson staining her cheeks. "The point is, there's only one place in this area that sells them, and it's the next town over. It'll take half an hour to drive there, tops."

An uneasy feeling filled my gut. "I don't know, Erika. Maybe I should come with you…"

"No! No, it's okay, really," I would be offended if I hadn't known that the only reason she didn't want me to come was because she didn't want me to see what she was buying.

"Okay, but promise me you won't do anything stupid, like walk around the town alone at night."

She rolled her eyes. "I survived so far, Edward. I think I'll be fine."

That night passed too quickly. It was soon morning, and I kissed Erika goodbye before leaving through her window. I ran quickly back to my house to change my clothes.

I ran into some difficulty trying to find someone in my family to come hunting with me. Carlisle was busy at the office, and had hunted recently, with Esme. Rosalie never went hunting with me unless someone else came too, and Emmett was offended by my actions.

"You shun us for two weeks, completely throwing off the football game last weekend, and then you want to hunt with us." Emmett said, rolling his eyes. I knew that he would get over it in a couple days, but he still wouldn't hunt with me.

So Alice, Jasper, and I set out Saturday afternoon. We didn't go really far, just to the other side of the mountains that surrounded the town. I was actually pretty happy with the way the groups worked out. If Alice and Jasper were keeping each other company, that meant I was free to think about Erika, and hope she was safe.

"Edward, calm down. Your anxiety isn't helping." Jasper's disapproving voice cut through my thoughts. I felt a calming wave settle over me. Usually, I would be upset that Jasper was manipulating my emotions, but right now I probably needed it. I needed to calm down and hunt.

The hours passed slowly, but eventually Sunday afternoon rolled around. We started moving back towards the town, taking down a deer or two along the way. Around 2:00, we found a nice clearing, and Alice and Jasper decided they wanted to have some 'alone time' before they went back to the house. I was lucky it wasn't Rosalie and Emmett that I was with. Their thoughts were loud and disturbing, while Jasper and Alice's thoughts were calmer, quieter, and sweeter. I wasn't sickened by what I accidentally overheard.

I was still ranging around the trees, giving Jasper and Alice their space when I heard Alice shout my name in her head.

"_Edward! Get over here, now!"_

I sprinted back to where they were at full speed. They were still sitting where I had left them. Alice had a very far away look on her face and Jasper was holding her hands, trying to send her calming waves.

"Edward, its Erika." Alice said, and I felt my body go numb.

"What happened?" I choked out, falling to my knees in front of her. "Is she okay?"

I saw the vision in her mind. There was Erika, driving along the highway, coming home after shopping, but she was okay. That was when I noticed the car coming at her. The POV switched to the other driver, and I could see at once that he was intoxicated. I didn't need to see the rest of the vision to guess what would happen next.

"How much time do I have?"

"About an hour." There was no need to tell me to hurry; I was gone before her words finished echoing around the clearing.

I ran as fast as I could, but I felt as if I was running through molasses. I couldn't move my legs fast enough, but my mind was racing. This couldn't be happening.

_A memory; a hundred years ago, another day, another race. The trees rushing past me, still not fast enough. Hearing the tires screech, the scream; seeing her, knowing I couldn't save her, trying anyway. Blood staining my hands, her blood, and I didn't dare think of drinking it. Seeing her broken body, watching her face, seeing a word form on her lips._

"_Edward"_

I wouldn't let it happen again; I _couldn't_ let it happen again. I refused to watch as someone else died because I wasn't there. Yet my legs couldn't work fast enough. Finally, I saw the trees thinning, and I could almost make out the road. There was a blind corner, but I could see both the cars, separated by a jut of rock.

Ever have one of those dreams where you're running and running, either to something or away from something, but you just can't go fast enough? Whatever your chasing keeps getting farther away and you know you won't run fast enough. Or whatever's chasing you is going faster than you, and you can't get away, and it's going to catch you. You'll always be too late.

That's how I felt now. In 5 seconds I would be at the road, and I would be too late.

My mind worked furiously. If I stretched out every step even just and inch more, I could make it to the road a few milliseconds earlier. Maybe I could push the other car away. But no, Erika had already started swerving; her car was going out of control. I would have to get her out of her car.

I didn't know if I would get there fast enough. As I watched, the two cars hit, and their front ends folded like accordions. I didn't see what happened to the drunken man, I only saw Erika. She had turned her face away from the other car, bracing herself for impact, and she locked eyes with me just before she scrunched hers closed. Her body flew forward as her car was jolted to a stop from the crash. Just a moment before she hit the steering wheel, her airbag deployed, and I her body was thrown backwards by it. I winced as I heard some ribs crack.

Using my momentum, I jumped as soon as I cleared the tree line. I punched through the passenger side of Erika's car, and ripped her seatbelt off. Still flying through the air, I grabbed her around the waist and spun around so she wouldn't hit the other side of the car. I knew that this probably wasn't the best way to get her out of the car, considering her broken ribs, but right now it was my only option. My shoulder hit the other side of the car and my momentum carried us both through it.

Then my nightmare became reality. As I pulled her from the car, her legs caught on something. I was going too fast to stop though, and I heard a sickening crunch as both her leg bones broke. At the same time, her head just clipped the edge of the car doorframe. By the time her brain registered the pain, I was already partly in the trees on the other side of the road. I didn't stop moving when I hit the road; I just kept running, planning on taking Erika straight to the hospital. For a moment I wondered if I should cal 911 for the drunken man, but decided to let Alice handle that, hearing a bloodcurdling scream erupt as Erika's brain finally noticed her legs were broken.

Traveling to the hospital seemed to be slower and more agonizing than running to save Erika. I had her in my arms now, but I didn't know if she was safe. Her legs were broken, and so were her ribs. I couldn't yet tell if any of the ribs had hit an organ, but I wasn't too hopeful. I knew her head was injured too, and I hoped I hadn't killed her myself. I could her shallow breathing, and her faint heartbeat though, so I knew she lived, for now.

Carlisle was waiting at the entrance to the ER with a gurney, so I assumed that Alice had warned him I was coming. His eyebrows knitted in concern as I laid Erika down. He was assessing her injuries, trying to see how bad it was.

"Her legs are broken, and a few ribs too. I had to yank her out of the car, so a few of her internal organs might be injured, and she hit her head on the way out of the car," I said quickly, and he nodded. He wheeled her into the hospital. Taking a deep breath, I followed.

Carlisle wheeled her straight into an operating room where some doctors were waiting. It seemed Alice had given Carlisle enough warning that he could pull a few strings and get Erika into the operating room faster. I felt a little calmer knowing that my father was going to be there, but I still couldn't relax completely. I walked slowly to the waiting room, feeling a weight on my shoulders that wouldn't lift.

My family was there, waiting for me. I could hear the concern emanating from their thoughts, not just for me, but for Erika as well. They had truly grown attached to her, and I know that if something happened to her, I wouldn't be the only one affected.

Esme stood up as I walked into the room, and her thoughts started racing as soon as she saw my face.

_Is she okay? Did she… did she live?_ Esme couldn't say the words out loud.

"She… I don't know. Her legs are broken, and her head hit part of the car as I pulled her out. A couple of her ribs are broken, and they may have punctured internal organs. I don't know anything else. I don't know… if she'll make it," my voice broke at the end.

Esme hugged me, looking like she was about to cry. I think I might have looked like that as well. If I were human, tears would be pouring down my face. With one of her arms still around me, she led me over to the blue plastic chairs around the edges of the room. I barely heard the condolences my family murmured to me. I hunched over in my chair, an odd choking sound coming from my throat.

I didn't know how I would go on without Erika. I couldn't stand the thought of her dying. Every moment for me would be hell; I would spend every moment begging my family to kill me.

I followed Alice's visions for a while, but I couldn't stand it after a while. They kept on shifting, life to death. I could feel Jasper trying to spread hope around, but it was a struggle for him when he was worried himself. The others became silent after a while, a vigil unbroken even as night fell.

I had a lot of time to think as Erika was in the operating room. My thoughts wandered over every moment we had spent together, the moment we met; every thought, every touch, every moment, running over and over again in my mind.

I thought of the future too, something I had been avoiding. Right now, I could feel Erika's mortality hit me like never before. I knew that she would die eventually, but I was expecting decades later. I wanted to live in the moment with her, and pretend all my problems would go away if I just ignored them. I knew it was stupid, but I didn't want to face my other options.

One day she would die, whether I wanted her to or not. She was only human, and humans were so fragile. There was one way I could save her, but would I do that to her? Could I ever damn her to an eternal hell of temptation and thirst just so she could be with me?

I took a couple of deep breaths. I knew why I was reluctant to change Bella. The same reasons applied to Erika. But something was different now. I had already experienced death once, and I didn't know if I could handle it again. I knew that if she died, I could always go with her, and go to the Volturi, but my family was prepared now. They knew what I would do. Even now, I could see them giving me worried glances.

Maybe I wouldn't have to make the decision. Erika could die any moment now, and there are some things that even venom couldn't fix.

The seconds dragged by, each one dragging across my brain like razors. Every moment was filled with panic. Was she still alive now? Would she live? What would I do if she died? What would I do if she lived? Would she still be the same? Would she still love me?

I would like to say that I lost track of the hours as my mind went numb, but I felt every tick of the clock, every minute that passed. Erika had been in surgery for five hours when something changed. I heard the door to the waiting room open, and a nurse poked his head in. I knew him; his name was Brett, and I worked with him sometimes when I volunteered at the hospital.

"Edward," Brett said, breaking the long silence in the waiting room. "Your father would like to see you."

I didn't know what to think at this point. I still didn't know if Erika was alive or dead. I stood up, but I could barely feel the rest of my body. I was numb, afraid to feel anything; hope and despair, elation and mourning, everything balanced on the tip of a knife now.

My father was in his office, so I knew that Erika was out of surgery. I knew my father would never leave unless it was over. I was afraid to hear what he was thinking, just in case what I had feared had come true.

"Edward," Carlisle started, and I braced myself. "Edward, Erika is alive. She's going to make it."

The relief that swept through my body made me fall to my knees. "Thank God, oh, thank God!" I sobbed into my hands. She was going to live. I could still be with her. She wasn't gone, she wasn't dead!

After I had calmed down, I stood up and walked over to my father. I put my hand on his shoulder, thanking him.

"There's… there's more. Her head was hit hard, and she had a bad concussion. Her ribs, they punctured one of her lungs and her stomach. We got them sewn up but… there are complications."

"What kind of complications?" My voice sounded like there was a lead weight attached to every word.

She will have some trouble breathing, and will have to use an inhaler. She will be plagued by terrible headaches. There are certain foods she won't be able to eat now."

"And…?" I knew there was something else; something to explain the look on my father's face.

"There was a part of her stomach lining that was damaged. Her stomach acid is slowly eating away at it. When it breaks through, her stomach acid will leak into her body, eating through her other organs. She won't be able to live through that."

"How long?" I couldn't hear my voice very well, there was a ringing that was getting in my way.

"It is a very slow process; she has a few more years. We don't know after that. Maybe we can do something to fix it, but there's not a lot of hope. I'm… I'm so sorry, Edward."

It took me a moment to catch my breath. I was expecting her to live for a couple more decades a least, to know that I only had a few more years now…

"I want to see her."

"I thought so. I put her in room 208, at the end of the hall."

I knew which room and I walked over to it with my feet filled with lead. I paused before opening the door. Would I be able to handle seeing her? She would still be broken, in a way, it might be worse. To know how short of a time she had left, to her so fragile, so helpless. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

It was all that I feared. Erika was surrounded by tubes and machines. She had a tracheotomy, and I could see the tube sticking into her throat so she could breathe. Her legs were in a cast, and her torso and head was bandaged as well. It was painful to see her lying there, and know that I was almost too late.

I waded through the wires, tubes and machines to her bed. I sat carefully, making sure not to disturb her, and carefully stroked her hand. It still felt warm to me, but I could feel that it was several degrees colder than it should be.

Looking at her now, seeing how close I was to losing her, knowing that I was still so close, I made my decision. I knew now that I couldn't ever let her die. I knew what I had to do.

Leaning over, I kissed her forehead carefully.

"I'm sorry, Erika. I won't ever let it happen again. You'll never… you'll never be in danger again."

I stayed with her from then on, watching her heal. I was always in the chair on the edge of the room, and when she was wheeled away for more operations, or for checkups, I followed the gurney as far as I was allowed to.

She went into a coma, but Carlisle assured me that it wasn't a bad one, and she would wake up as soon as her mind could handle her injuries. There was nothing I could do, but I stayed, and waited for her to wake up. I sang to her often, hoping she could hear me. It was nice to think that wherever her mind had taken her, she could hear my voice, and know that I was nearby.

I waited for her to wake up, so I could make her safe. She would never fight for her life again.

* * *

OME the next chapter will be the last one! It all went by too fast...

The next chapter will be from Erika's POV again.

There will be an epilouge after the last chapter- be sure to look for it.

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	12. Final Decision

**Mending Hearts**

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Dedication:  
This chapter is for my friends and family, for still being there throughout my obsession, though half of you want to kill me.**

This chapter is back to **Erika's POV**.

* * *

Chapter 12: Final Decision

I could have been floating in blackness for centuries, or seconds. I wasn't sure. All I knew is that all there had ever been was the blackness, and I had always been floating through it.

I drifted, doing nothing, as I had been doing for an immeasurable amount of time.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Oh, listen to that, _my mind thought lazily. _Something new. Or is it?_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The beep wasn't new. It had been there forever. Or it had just started. I didn't know. I didn't care.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

I drifted in time with the beep, caressing it with my mind.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

It was starting to get a little annoying now. Slowly, a sense of time started to register, and I realized that the beeping had gone on too long for it to be comforting.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Where was it coming from? Make it stop! I didn't like the beeping anymore.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_Erika!_

What was that? A voice appeared in the blackness, calling a name; my name. The voice sounded familiar.

_Erika! Wake up!_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Wake up? Did that mean I was asleep? Where was I?

_Erika, come out of the blackness. Open your eyes._

I searched, but I could not find my eyes. What was the voice talking about?

_Remember, Erika. Remember your body. Don't drift away. Don't drift away from me._

_But who are you?_ I called to the voice.

_Edward. Remember? My name is Edward._

A million memories, a million voices, flooding the blackness. _Edward._ He's important. He's… he's… a vampire! I'm dating him. We danced once, under a moonlit sky…

_Yes, Erika. It's me. Please, find yourself now. I need you to wake up._

I looked really hard. Another memory drifted by me. A girl, looking in a mirror. It was me; that's what I looked like. That's what my body looked like. I imagined myself taking on that shape, imagined where my eyes would be, trying to open them.

Light. Intense light, flooding my pupils. My eyes shut again. Why didn't anyone warn me that opening your eyes _hurt_? I tried again, slower this time. Slowly, things started coming into focus.

There was a face above me, a familiar face. Edward's face. I smiled, but something felt weird, my throat. My eyebrows knitted together as I tried to figure out what was going on.

That's when reality hit me. Pain. There was pain in a lot of places. My legs, my stomach, my ribs, my head, my throat. My eyes flew open a little wider. I was in a white room, on a bed that wasn't very comfortable. There were tubes, tubes everywhere, hooked into the strangest places. What was going on? Last I remembered I was driving home…

I tried to sit up, but Edward held me down. "You have to stay still, Erika. You have to rest."

I tried to speak, but I couldn't. My voice wasn't working. Panic started to take over my brain. What was going on?

"Erika, its fine. Please, listen. You cannot talk because there is a tube in your throat. It is helping you breathe. You were in a car accident. It was… very bad." A shadow crossed his face as he said this.

An accident? I couldn't remember it at all.

Edward sat carefully at the edge of my bed, not really looking at me. "I was almost… too late," he whispered.

I couldn't talk to reassure him, so I tried to comfort him with my thoughts. _You weren't too late. I'm fine Edward. I'm alive._

"Yes…" There was something he was hiding from me, I could see it. But I was exhausted and I wanted to close my eyes again. Apparently being in a coma does not constitute as sleep.

"Sleep, love. Your body needs it," Edward said, and I drifted off.

* * *

The next time I opened my eyes, it wasn't Edward who stood above me. It was my parents. I could see Edward in my peripheral vision, pretending to sleep. I almost smiled, remembering another time, another life, when he had done the same thing.

My parents and I had a tearful reunion, and I had to be careful not to move around too much. Much of my body was still sore. I didn't know how long I slept for, but it must have been a long time. There was no tube in my throat now, and I could talk. I wondered vaguely if my first awakening had actually been a dream.

Soon though, I had other things on my mind. My parents told me the horrible truth, what happened to me. I was to die in a few years. So short! There would be so many things I wouldn't be able to do, so many things I wouldn't be able to accomplish! What was I going to do?

My parents did their best to reassure me being quite distraught themselves. The stress was taking its toll on me, and I finally decided to push the matter to the back of my mind. Or I tried to, at least. I had a few years, and the best thing I could do now was heal. Being in a constant state of stress inhibited that. I calmed down, much to my parent's relief, but the issue was always in the back of my mind, slowly eating away at my morale.

I slept a lot, and every time I woke up, something was different. Usually, it was just who was visiting. One day I woke to find my best friend, Erika, leaning over me.

Her face was troubled. "I heard about… what happened."

"I guessed, considering you're here visiting me." I said sarcastically, but my words were weak. I was happy to see her, but she reminded me of that thorny issue that lingered in my mind. I glanced around the room, noting that Edward was missing. He must be hunting… I hoped. It worried my slightly that I didn't know where he was.

"You'll never guess what happened at school though!" Erika said, and she continued on to tell me all the gossip in the school I was missing. One particular story stuck out in my mind, because it involved the Cullens.

"Well, you know how a lot of the girls in the school think Emmett and Jasper are hot right?"

"They don't think Edward is too?" I teased.

"Well, yes. Anyway, Serena really likes Jasper, right? So one day after school she's walking down the hallway, and Jasper and Alice are walking towards her. She freaked out and dropped her stuff everywhere. So Jasper stops to help her pick up her things. So they're picking up her things, and she looks up and he's like, a foot away from her. She got really freaked out again and she totally fainted! Right there in the hall, she just fell over. She woke up a second later, but the weird part was, she wasn't embarrassed until after Alice and Jasper left. She calmed down really quickly and Jasper handed her stuff to her, and then they all just walked away. Serena almost fell over again afterwards; ever since she can't stop talking about how gorgeous his eyes are."

I laughed, imagining the scene. I wondered for a moment why Alice didn't see it coming and warn Jasper, but I guessed it was because it was harmless, and extremely entertaining. I wouldn't have said anything either. I could also see Jasper calming down her emotions after she fainted. I wondered why he didn't calm her down before and stop her from fainting. Was it because he tried to meddle in human emotions as little as possible? Or was it because it was so sudden? Either way, her stories distracted me from the issue in my mind, for which I was grateful.

I was confined to that hospital bed for an immeasurable amount of weeks. It was mostly immeasurable because I couldn't keep track of the time. I slept a lot, and was only awake for a few hours at a time.

Eventually though, I started staying awake longer, and I could keep track of the days. It was 6 weeks after my accident when I left my hospital bed for the first time. I was still confined to a wheelchair, and I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital, but it was better than staring at the same white walls all day. Edward and I hung out in the patient's lounge, and I watched some random sitcom that was on TV. Mostly, I looked out the window while Edward told me of some funny things he had heard in minds before.

On cloudy days, he wheeled me around the hospital grounds. These walks usually ended up with him finding some isolated corner where we would spend some alone time together. We had a lot of kissing to catch up on. Sometimes, he lifted me off my chair and laid me on the ground, and we stared up into they sky, our arms around each other. It was these moments I loved most of all. In these moments I didn't care that I was going to die in a few years, or that my legs were broken, or that my head hurt often. I felt safe and comforted with his protective arms around me. I felt like he was shielding me from anything that could hurt me in the world.

After a few more weeks of pain and boredom the doctor told me I was ready to have the casts on my legs removed. The casts were cut off leaving some very scrawny legs! It was almost funny; they were like chicken legs—too small and skinny for my body. It was a little scary at first because I honestly couldn't move my legs. My muscles had simply vanished and I would have to work hard to build them back up. The doctor sent the hospital's physiotherapist to help with the healing process. He gave me exercises and slowly, but surely because I could see the improvements every day, my legs returned to their normal strength.

It was _another_ few weeks before I could walk more than a couple steps on my own and a few more until I could walk to the patient's lounge. I felt as if I had lived in the hospital for my entire life. So nobody was more surprised than I was when the doctors said I could go home.

I wasn't healed perfectly; I still needed a wheelchair for long distances, and Tylenol was my constant companion. But I could go home! It was the middle of summer, but when September rolled around, I would be allowed to go back to school.

My coming home was supposed to be quiet, but somehow it got out. I was guessing that a certain pixie saw it coming, and she was the one who planned the party. It was at her house of course; mine was too small. So instead of going home first, my parents drove me to the Cullen's. I didn't realize at first where we were going. It had been an exhausting day for me, and I was napping a little in the backseat. I started wondering after we had been driving for a while where we were going though. My house wasn't this far from the hospital.

Edward was waiting for me on his porch, and when my parents weren't looking, he gave me a quick kiss. After that, the party was a blur of faces and greetings. Afterwards, I never wanted to hear the words 'welcome home' again.

Edward never left my side, but he was strangely distant at the same time. I had been noticing for a few days now that he was often lost in thought. I didn't want to intrude on his thoughts, so I hadn't asked what it was about. I just hoped he would tell me soon.

The next week was busy as I settled into my old life as best I could. I still exercised my legs everyday, and I was getting proud of how strong they were. They were almost as strong as they were before the accident, and I rarely needed the wheelchair.

Edward and I often went on little day trips to our special tree, just to watch the clouds pass by.

"Tomorrow, you should come to my house," Edward said to me one day while we were in the tree. "My family's going hunting, so it will just be us."

"Are you not hunting with them?" I asked.

"I hunted a few days ago. I'm fine." So the next day, I went to Edward's house instead.

I decided to chance the stairs. There were about 10 less stairs at my house, so I wanted to see if I could handle his.

"I made it!" I called triumphantly when I reached the top. I didn't mention that I needed to lean on Edward for the last bit of it. There were more stairs than I thought. My legs were tired, so Edward carried me to his room and laid me on his bed so I could rest my legs for a while. After laying me down, he joined me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning me against him. I settled into his arms comfortably. There was nowhere else I would rather be just then.

After a long silent time, Edward spoke. "I… I have to talk to you about something."

I figured that he wanted to talk about the issue that had been plaguing him for the last couple of weeks, so I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue.

"Your accident, it changed a lot for me. I saw mortality; I saw how fragile you really are. It put a lot of things into perspective for me. Things I would have rather avoided…

"It was hard to bear the thought that you could have died. While you were in the hospital, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through that time. And to know that we only have a short time together, knowing that you're going to die in a few years anyway, I don't know if I can bear it. A few years are short even for a human, and that time passes in the blink of an eye for someone immortal. Before we know it, your time will be up, and we won't be ready for it. _I_ won't be ready for it."

I had turned around during his speech, and my eyes were locked on his. I didn't understand what he was saying. What changed? What decision had he made?

"I put this off, over and over again. First I told myself that I wanted you to wake up and see your parents. And then I wanted you to heal. Then I wanted you to tie up a few loose ends in your life. But now… I finally decided I couldn't put it off any longer.

"Erika, I already told you that I can't live without you. That means forever. That will always mean forever. I can't bear the thought that you will die, ever. I want you with me, always."

What was he saying? That he wanted to turn me into a vampire?

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Edward said, catching my thought.

My breathing sped up. I was having troubles thinking. "But, what will my parents think? They just got me back! And my friends! And…" my words trailed off.

"I know. I know it's selfish of me to ask. I know that it's selfish to take you from your parents, from your friends, from your life. The harsh reality is, your life would be taken from you anyway in a couple of years, whether you liked it or not."

"I don't know, I can't think." I said, trying to buy myself time. It was so tempting!

I know that before I said I didn't want to be a vampire but being in love and almost dying changed my perspective a bit. I was still reluctant on that choice, but now there was something on the other side, something to tempt me. Now, when I made the change, Edward would be there. Edward would always be there.

"Erika," Edward's soft voice interrupted my musings. "Erika, I'm not asking what you think of it."

I was confused. I could feel my eyebrows scrunch together as I tried to figure out what he meant. He started to kiss me, and I was distracted from my confusion a little. His lips trailed along my jaw line, up to my ear, and back down to my lips, my nose, and my closed eyes. Then his lips started trailing down my throat and back up again. He made this circuit a few times before stopping with his face by my neck. Then he continued speaking, not moving his face away from my neck.

"Erika, I've already made my decision. I can't live without you. I won't live without you."

I gasped as I realized what he meant, why he took me to his house today, and why his face lingered at my neck just now. I pulled his face up so I could look into his eyes, seeing if he meant it. His eyes looked crazed, and it worried me.

"Edward, this isn't like you. You know you'll regret this later. Why are you doing this?"

"Sometimes things change. Sometimes people change. I never wanted to… I never wanted to," he paused for an unnecessary breath. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. I never wanted to love anyone. I never wanted to know another human again. I never wanted to live. And then I met you. And suddenly, what I wanted before just… fell away. I wasn't sure what I wanted. Which I was fine with," he added quickly. "But with the… the accident, and seeing you lying in the hospital, looking so fragile and weak, I knew I couldn't put off my decision any longer. And now, some of my options were taken away from me. I had two choices: I could leave you, forever, or I could turn you into a vampire. If I let you stay human and stayed with you, I wasn't sure…" another breath. His words were suddenly harsher, but I knew it was because he was panicked. "You're going to die, Erika. You're going to die in a few years, and I…"

I wrapped my arms around him, comforting him. If he had been human, he'd be crying.

"I can't lose you. I lost Bella; please, don't let me lose you too."

I took a slow breath, and pulled away too look him in his eyes.

This reminded me of a soap opera; Boy loves Girl. Girl dies. Boy loves Other Girl. Other Girl dying. Boy can save Other Girl, at a price. Boy and Other Girl have to make a decision. Boy wants to save her, Other Girl isn't sure. So what does the Other Girl decide to do?

Unfortunately, in soap operas, something usually happens where either the boy or the girl has to go away without explaining to the other person. Or the first girl shows up again and complicates things. That was impossible in this case. Bella wasn't coming back, and Edward wasn't leaving. _I_ could leave, but my legs were too slow, and Edward could follow me everywhere.

So what would the Other Girl do? What _should_ the Other Girl do?

The Other Girl decides. And the Other Girl must be out of her mind, but she doesn't care.

"I love you, Edward. I'll always love you, no matter what. " And it's done. There's no going back now. No matter what the Boy does now, the Other Girl will still love him. And I know that I will regret this later. And I know I won't regret this later. I know that life has its ups and downs, and I know I can handle it, if only Edward is there.

"I love you, Erika," he whispered, before I felt his lips on my neck, and felt his teeth tear the flesh.

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There it is! The last chapter. I can't believe it! When I first dreamed up this story, I never thought I would actually type it all out and post it here; it seemed such a fleeting hope to do so. Yet here I am, almost 9 months later, posting the final chapter!

This story ahs gotten me through a lot, and the reviews were there when I needed them the most. School and life is stressful: thank you to all the reviewers that made my day and gave me the warm fuzzies with your reviews!

There will be an epilogue, posted sometime in the next two days, so don't get rid of your subscriptions yet!

Happy 108th Birthday Edward!

Stay Vamptastic!  
~Moql


	13. Epilogue

**Mending Hearts**

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but an awsome power... *;P

**Dedication:  
This chapter goes out to my best reviewers: ElloStargazer, Da-Jelly-Fish, maddhadder93, mayball31695, and MarleighKitty. Thank you all!**

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Epilogue

My vision is red. There's so much blood, everywhere! It's pooling around me, soaking into my clothes. I can't believe how much blood there is!

I sigh and lower my lips to the wound, sucking it dry. I had been a vampire for months, and the amount of blood in a deer still shocks me sometimes.

Being a vampire isn't as bad as I had anticipated it to be. I was worried about being bored, about missing my family, about the crazy newborn madness. They were problems, sometimes, but the pros definitely outweighed the cons. I was bored sometimes, but not for long. Edward always took care of that for me; often occupying me for hours on end. I missed my family, and I knew that would never get better. I was glad that my other family, the Cullens, were always there to comfort me. The newborn madness was horrible, but with the help of my new family, and their talents, I managed to go without killing any humans so far. I didn't want to say I was in the clear yet. My eyes were golden, but I still had violent mood swings, and I didn't like going among humans, fearing the temptation would be too great.

The discovery of my power was the greatest shock to me.

I was listening to Edward tell stories of what the world was like in the early 1900's, and of what the World Wars were like for him. I loved the stories, though I heard them several times. I had always liked learning about history, and reading, so I enjoyed listening to everyone's stories.

Alice was watching, and as Edward ended his story, she piped up.

"You know, Erika, I think you'd really enjoy the classics. Have you read Jane Eyre?"

I shook my head, no.

"Here I'll get it for you. I have a copy in my room." Alice said, running up the stairs. She came back down and gently tossed the book towards me. I caught it instinctively, then gasped and dropped it.

"Erika! Erika, are you all right?" Edward said frantically, gripping my shoulders and looking into my eyes.

My eyes must have been huge, but I wasn't looking at Edward. I wasn't really looking at anything; I was concentrating on the new information that had suddenly flooded my brain.

"Wow," I whispered. "He went blind."

"What are you talking about?" Edward asked, confused. "Who went blind?"

"She's talking about the book!" Alice put in, staring at me curiously. "How did you know? You said you hadn't read it before."

"I—I hadn't."

Everyone was silent for a moment. I bent down and picked the book off the ground. Once again information flooded my brain, but it was easier to sort this time, having already processed it. I could feel my power though. I could quote every line in that book, and realize all the subtle nuances, and tell you the copyright date and all those legal things in the front cover.

"Alice," I whispered. "Get me another book. Don't show me what it is." If Alice was confused by my request, she didn't show it. She sprinted to the bookshelf in the corner and grabbed a book.

I took a deep breath, and took it from her hands with my eyes closed. A small smile lit my lips.

"Shakespeare's Scribe. Written by Gary Blackwood. Copyright 2000. 265 pages." I could have gone on, told the plot, and the publisher, and what the last and first lines were, but I figured that was enough.

I opened my eyes to see Edward and Alice staring incredulously at me, their mouths open.

"How did you know that?" Edward asked.

I thought for a moment. "When I touched it; I just _felt_ the information I guess." I frowned, searching for a better way to describe it. "It was just like if I had read it. I just _know_ what's in it."

"Erika, I think we may have found your power!" Alice squealed. "Come on, we have to tell everyone!" She proceeded to run off, calling for Carlisle.

Edward wrapped his arms around me. "Very cool. You're going to finish book reports faster than us now." He said, and we both laughed. "I wonder how limited it is. Do you think you could project it?"

"I'm not sure," I said, thinking hard, trying to figure out how to do that.

"It's okay, you might not be able to, or it might take you some practice."

The rest of the family came in, and I had to demonstrate over and over again with different books. Carlisle was wondering the same thing as Edward, how limited my power was. So they gathered anything with text on it: clothing, homework, boxes, random papers, anything. I could sense them all.

Emmett whistled. "Wow, Erika. That's pretty powerful!"

I had been trying to project my power over the last few months, with little success yet. I could sense the general thing that the text was about if I was within a few centimetres of it, but nothing else.

Two weeks later my new power had given me an idea.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

I took a deep breath. "I want to go find him."

Edward was confused for a moment. "Who?"

"Jacob. I want to find Jacob, and bring him back to La Push."

"Why? You haven't even met him?" Edward's tone wasn't rude, it was just bewildered.

"I know a bit about him. And I know he's out there somewhere, mourning the loss of Bella, just as you were. I don't want him to be hurting so much. He has to be out there somewhere."

"He could be anywhere, Erika. How do you expect to find him?"

"Well… I've been reading, well, taking in information I guess, from a lot of books about wolves. And I think I might have an idea of where he might be wandering. You can read his mind, so when we get within a few kilometres, you'll be able to hear him."

Edward thought for a moment. "It's not a bad plan, but I'm not really sure… do you think it's the best idea for two vampires to go looking for a werewolf?"

"I think it's the only way we'll find him."

So the adventure began. We were still on the road. Edward had unlimited cash, so we would spend the night in fancy hotels when were in the city. We often scoured forests though; to make sure we didn't skip over the one Jacob could be hiding in.

We hadn't found him yet, but we were bound to eventually, we only had time. In the meantime I was working on my control, and on my power. Edward and I would have outings together, and tour around. We saw Niagara Falls, and the Parliament buildings, and some places in the U.S. as well.

One day we would find Jacob, and we would help him, I knew we would. And then everything could be right again in the world. A world that would never quite be like the one I imagined before the Cullens came, but would be just as perfect.

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And that is it! C'est fini!

There will be no sequel, so please no requests for it.

I don't post during the summer, because I don't have access to a computer. I will be writing though, and will start posting chapters next Septamber or October. If I'm busy, it might be November. You can always message me starting in September though.

The next big story I'm going to post is the "New Moon Story". The information on it is in my profile, like the fact that it is currently unnamed. I will work on that this summer.

I'm going to **Summer School in Forks**! Let me know if any of you are going, maybe I'll see you there!

Stay Vamptastic all summer!

~Moql'nkkn


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